In a long black pea coat and loafers, California Rep. Ro Khanna looked like a New England politician.

You know, I need to buy better boots, he joked to a group sitting in a Concord home on Saturday.

The Fremont congressman and former co-chair of Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign had returned to the state where he once supported Sanders to support another candidate who was absent from Tuesday’s presidential primary.

Joe

Biden.

This year, the Democratic National Committee set aside New Hampshire, which historically hosts the nation’s first presidential primaries, for South Carolina, the state that put Biden on his path to the nomination four years ago.

But Biden allies, including Khanna, are still hoping the write-in votes will allow the president to make a strong impression in Tuesday’s unofficial Democratic primary.

It all came together, huh? Khanna said, surveying a gathering of about fifty people in the cheerful yellow kitchen of a Concord home. Pretty amazing turnout.

Tables and chairs had been pushed against the walls to make room for the crowd. Outside, stacks of Write-in Joe Biden signs line the driveway.

Standing in the corner of the living room, flanked by a bookshelf full of family photos and a table decorated with a framed local newspaper article, Khanna urged the audience to support the registration efforts.

It’s hard to win in a write-in campaign, Khanna said. The whole country will notice, as it always does in New Hampshire, and they will say this president is excited. This president’s economic visions are interconnected. This president inspires the nation.

But in a room full of press, it was difficult to tell how many attendees were actually New Hampshire voters. And despite Khanna’s optimism, polls show that most Democrats are unenthusiastic about the sitting president. Biden’s approval rating stands at 39.1% nationally, according to the latest numbers from polling aggregator FiveThirtyEight.com.

In California, only half of voters have a positive view of Biden, according to a poll last week by the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies, co-sponsored by the Los Angeles Times. An October poll showed a majority of Californians disapproved of the president.

Khanna declined to quantify what a win for Biden would look like on Tuesday. In place of the absent president, the Democratic ticket in New Hampshire is full of lesser-known candidates, including author Marianne Williamson and Minnesota Congressman Dean Phillips.

My hope is that as the elections get closer, people will realize the stakes and come out, Khanna said.

The California congressman wasn’t the only widespread Biden supporter in New Hampshire

on

Saturday. Zena Martin, a marketing consultant in Atlanta, flew to New England at her own expense to help with the sign-up campaign. Voting alone is not enough, she says. She brought the

P

spending the last few days preparing for the weekend events and standing in the freezing cold with signs.

As I understand it, I have come the furthest, but of course Ro Khanna has come further, Martin said laughing.

As for Khanna, who took a selfie with her, Martin said his visit shows that wherever we are, if you really care about saving our democracy, you will do what you can.

Chris Johnson and Megan DeVorsey clung to the edges of the busy kitchen scene and watched as Khanna made his rounds, taking photos and shaking hands. They’ve lived in Concord for 23 years and are used to the rhythm of politicians visiting the Granite State every four years, but they said it doesn’t get old.

It gives energy. It’s exciting, DeVorsey said, her glasses fogging up from the humidity in the house. I enjoy coming to people’s homes and meeting members of Congress from all over the country. I love it.

We tell ourselves that retail politics in New Hampshire is real, added Johnson, who grew up in Hollywood. I think it’s a privilege that we get to see powerful political figures like these in small environments. It’s a bit nutty in a way.

Both Johnson and DeVorsey plan to hang sign-in campaign signs at polling places on Tuesday. Many Granite State residents don’t even know that writing in the president’s name is an option, DeVorsey noted.

With a sitting president and all eyes on the Republican primaries, not to mention criticism from the DNC, there is little reason to expect strong turnout among Democrats in New Hampshire. But apathy isn’t the Biden write-in campaign’s only opponent; activists are lobbying for New Hampshire voters to write a ceasefire on the writing line on the ballot, a direct complaint about Biden’s approach to the war between Israel and Hamas.

As co-chair of Sanders’ campaign, Khanna has extensive experience on the New Hampshire circuit.

a

and a

Although he was in New Hampshire to support Biden,

Khannathe Californian

Their own ambitions were not far beneath the surface.

The Californian

has worked for years to position himself as a national progressive leader, building alliances with other progressive politicians in DC and building name recognition with visits to key battleground states.

He is, in fact, “the fifth member of our congressional delegation,” New Hampshire’s fifth congressional delegate.

said Cinde Warmington, a gubernatorial candidate and one of New Hampshire’s executive council members.

Khanna has made other moves that often indicate ambitions for national office. He is the author of two books about his vision on progressive politics in the digital age. He packs details about his own background, the son of Indian immigrants, raised in Philadelphia, in the belief that America would become this first cohesive multiracial democracy, into his stump speech for Biden.

In his speech, Khanna said

playful jokes

He alluded to the possibility that he might one day run in New Hampshire himself.

I was joking with someone: I much prefer Joe Biden as a name to Ro Khanna. He has been blessed with good luck, he said to a room full of laughter. If you want a written application, make sure you have an easy name.

A reporter asked if he would ever run for president.

Who knows! Khanna said. But right now, I’m here to support President Biden.

As the snow began to blow outside, Khanna emerged from the warm Concord home and got into his car to head to his next stop: another campaign party an hour away in Portsmouth.