Biden is skipping New Hampshire’s primary. One of his opponents says he’s as elusive as Bigfoot

PETERBOROUGH, N.H. (AP) — Trying to upset President Joe Biden in New Hampshire’s primary, Democratic challenger Dean Phillips is running a TV ad across the state comparing him to Bigfoot — the argument being both are hard to find.

“I’m something of an expert on elusive creatures,” a man dressed as sasquatch intones in the spot. “So I challenged myself to find President Biden in New Hampshire during this primary season. I thought I was good at hiding.”

Biden isn’t campaigning here. He pushed through Democratic rule changes that prioritized voters of color, deemphasizing New Hampshire’s primary. That angered party officials here who forged ahead with a primary anyway. With his name not on the ballot,

Biden’s allies are running a write-in campaign to try and ensure he doesn’t lose — or come uncomfortably close to losing — to any of the nearly two dozen candidates actually on it — a motley collection including a hopeful whose first name is President and a performance artist who wears a rubber boot on his head.

What to know about New Hampshire’s presidential primary

• Is a New Hampshire primary without the front-runner on the ballot and no delegates up for grabs still a New Hampshire primary? It depends on whom you ask.
• The opioid crisis is still raging in New Hampshire. For some voters, the issue is deeply personal.
• How the New Hampshire primary could energize Nikki Haley’s push to defeat Donald Trump

While Tuesday’s vote won’t affect the numbers in the Democratic nomination fight, it does carry risks for an incumbent with low approval ratings and nagging worries within his party about his reelection prospects. Biden’s challengers also include Phillips, who is a Democratic congressman from Minnesota, and self-help author Marianne