新罕布什尔州胡克塞特在共和党人密切关注的竞选活动的最后几天新罕布什尔州的总统初选周二，两位民主党候选人一直试图在全州范围内引起轰动，他们的主要对手也在竞选中获胜明显缺席.
明尼苏达州众议员迪恩·菲利普斯和作家兼议长玛丽安娜·威廉森正在挑战现任总统乔·拜登获得2024年民主党提名。
他们每个人都面临着严峻的挑战，因为党内几乎每个级别的民主党人——从全国委员会到国家领导人民调显示，菲利普斯和威廉姆森都没有获得选民的支持。
然而，这并没有阻止他们，尽管关于时间安排的旷日持久的争议从技术上讲已经使新罕布什尔州的初选结果与实际赢得总统提名无关。
由于该州与民主党全国委员会之间的日历斗争，拜登也拒绝在该州竞选或被列入初选名单-但菲利普斯和威廉姆森一直试图利用新罕布什尔州作为自己候选人的跳板。
自10月份开始竞选白宫以来，菲利普斯在全州举办了60多场活动。
“整件事我才进行了9到10周。人们还不了解我。这实际上是一种祝福。菲利普斯周四在新罕布什尔州对美国广播公司新闻频道(ABC News)的佐琳·沙阿(Zohreen Shah)说，他打算一直坚持到全国代表大会召开。
自从开始竞选以来，菲利普斯对自己的未来发表了有时自相矛盾的声明。他此前表示，如果他不能成功，他将在3月初的超级星期二之后结束竞选并支持拜登。最近，他最初建议他可能会发起第三方竞选，但随后又澄清不是这样。
威廉姆森于2023年3月参加了比赛，在该州300多个城镇举办了200多场活动。她已经在新罕布什尔州连续呆了17天，仅这个月就参加了超过85场活动。
她告诉美国广播公司新闻的乔纳森·卡尔去年那句“我不认为自己会与乔·拜登竞选。我认为这场运动是在挑战一种制度。”
菲利普斯对自己候选人资格的定义与其说是与拜登的政策分歧，不如说是对拜登在与唐纳德·特朗普的复赛中的实力的担忧。
拜登没有正式参加初选，但他的盟友一直在组织一场不同寻常的书面竞选活动，试图证明即使在他缺席的情况下，他仍然很受欢迎，他的挑战者也无法在投票箱前赶上他。
菲利普斯指出，考虑到新罕布什尔州几十年来一直被珍视(尽管有时存在争议)在初选日历上的靠前位置，该州正被忽视。
“如果他把你排除在外，你为什么还要把他写进去?”菲利普斯周六在纳舒厄的一次活动中问道。“看来总统对花岗岩州是理所当然的。“
新罕布什尔州选民丹尼尔·罗萨里奥(Daniel Rosario)周二投票给菲利普斯，因为他说，他觉得这位候选人是他“见过最多的人，这对你投票给谁有很大影响。”
正如她的竞选网站所述，威廉姆森在向新罕布什尔州选民传达的信息中表达了乐观情绪——“希望和机会的经济”以及医疗保健和环境健康的全面改革等问题。
“我觉得当我对观众讲话时，我感觉自己被倾听了，我感受到了对我们信息的热情。接触到足够多的人很难。我没有数百万美元的广告活动。我们没有那样的资源，”她在接受美国广播公司新闻采访时说。
“新罕布什尔州将做出决定，”她继续说道。“如果我的数字足够高，而且我有钱，我会去下一个州。如果没有，我将昂首挺胸，为我们传递的信息和这场运动所代表的意义感到自豪。”
在竞选过程中，菲利普斯仍然专注于为拜登的弱点辩护，这已经成为他竞选的定义信息，而威廉姆森则分享了她对美国的愿景和她促进中产阶级的愿望。
“我可以击败唐纳德·特朗普，乔·拜登不会击败他。菲利普斯周末在汉诺威的一次活动中说:“现在，这个国家还不知道这一点，因为他们不太了解我，但我向你们保证，到6月或7月份，当民调显示我击败唐纳德·特朗普、乔·拜登输给他时，民主党将有一个选择。”
538的民调平均值显示总体而言，拜登至少领先菲利普斯和威廉姆森两位数。但是一些选民接受了他们的信息。
“我会投众议员迪恩·菲利普斯的票。对我来说最重要的是确保唐纳德·特朗普在大选中被击败，我认为乔·拜登没有能力做到这一点，主要是由于目前在摇摆州的民调数据以及我对他在台上与唐纳德·特朗普辩论的能力缺乏信心，”达特茅斯学生诺亚·阿米登告诉ABC新闻。
威廉姆森在初选前一天晚上对选民的最后一次演讲中表示，“我们需要根本的经济改革，这正是美国今天的状况。比如乔·拜登——乔·拜登真的想帮助人们。他想帮助人们在本质上不公平的经济体系中生存下来。我想结束不公正。仅仅帮助别人是不够的。”
她说，来自基恩的威廉姆森选民梅林达·拉巴尔吉(Melinda LaBarge)将她对候选人的支持与经济信息联系在一起，特别是与拜登的方法相比。
“她说现有系统不会自我瓦解是对的。她所说的我们国家的经济不平等，我认为可能是我们最大的问题，我认为拜登总统或特朗普总统没有解决这个问题，”拉巴尔格周一在胡克塞特的一次威廉姆森活动上说。
对初选之夜的期望
尽管民意调查描绘了一幅画面，但候选人坚持认为，他们有办法在这个基本独立的州取得突破。
“我有一个数字，我有一个大致的数字，”威廉姆森谈到她对自己在初选之夜的表现的期望时表示，当美国广播公司新闻频道(ABC News)问她是否希望在两位数的范围内结束时，她点了点头。
威廉姆森说:“但你知道，这很有趣——过去几天我和人们交谈时，很多人甚至还没有决定投票给谁。”不过她指出，她并没有明确针对尚未决定投票给民主党的选民。(独立选民可以在共和党或民主党初选中投票。)
朴茨茅斯的大卫·法恩是威廉姆森的志愿者，自7月以来一直为该活动工作。他也说，尽管她以前参加过总统竞选，但她成功的最大障碍之一是姓名识别。
“玛丽安的知名度很低，过去很低，现在仍然很低。但我认为几天后会有所改变...他在威廉姆森在朴茨茅斯的一次活动中表示:“我们有太多犹豫不决的人，事情可能会发生变化。”
菲利普斯告诉美国广播公司新闻，他相信胜利将在“20年代”结束
拜登的高级代理人对预测他的成功选票数量提出异议。
加州众议员罗·卡纳周六表示:“胜利就是胜利，这意味着获得最多的选票。”
Biden has 2 primary challengers in New Hampshire: How Phillips and Williamson are campaigning
HOOKSETT, N.H. -- In the final days of campaigning for Republicans ahead of their closely watched presidential primary in New Hampshire on Tuesday, two Democratic candidates have been trying to make their own kind of splash -- similarly traversing the state in a race where their leading opponent is notably absent.
Minnesota Rep. Dean Phillips and author and speaker Marianne Williamson are challenging incumbent President Joe Biden for the 2024 Democratic nomination.
They each face a steep challenge, as Democrats at nearly every level of the party -- from the national committee to state leaders -- have rallied behind Biden while polling shows neither Phillips or Williamson has gotten much momentum with voters.
That hasn't deterred them, though, even as a protracted dispute over scheduling has technically rendered New Hampshire's primary results irrelevant for actually winning the presidential nomination.
Biden also declined to campaign in the state or be listed on the primary ballot because of the calendar fight between the state and the DNC -- but Phillips and Williamson have been trying to use New Hampshire as a launching pad for their own candidacies.
Phillips has hosted over 60 events across the state since he started his White House bid in October.
"I'm only nine or 10 weeks into this whole thing. People don't know me yet. That's actually a blessing. I'm going to be working my tail off introducing myself," Phillips told ABC News' Zohreen Shah on Thursday in New Hampshire, noting that he intends to make it all the way until the national convention.
Since starting his campaign, Phillips has given sometimes contradictory statements about his future. He previously said he would end his bid and back Biden after Super Tuesday, in early March, if he wasn't succeeding. More recently, he initially suggested -- and then clarified otherwise -- that he might launch a third-party run.
Williamson, who entered the race in March 2023, has held over 200 events across over 300 towns in the state. She's been in New Hampshire for 17 straight days, participating in over 85 events just this month.
She told ABC News' Jonathan Karl last year that "I don't see myself as running against Joe Biden. I see this campaign as challenging a system."
Phillips has defined his candidacy less on policy differences with Biden than by concern about Biden's strength in a rematch with Donald Trump.
Biden isn't officially running in the primary, but his allies have been organizing an unusual write-in campaign to try and prove that even in his absence, he remains popular and his challengers can't catch up to him at the ballot box.
Phillips points to that to argue New Hampshire is being ignored, given its decadeslong and cherished (if sometimes controversial) place at the front of the primary calendar.
"If he wrote you off, why would you write him in?" Phillips asked at an event in Nashua on Saturday. "Seems like the president is taking the Granite State for granted."
New Hampshire voter Daniel Rosario cast a ballot for Phillips on Tuesday because, he said, he felt like the candidate was one he "saw most, which influences a lot in who you vote for."
Williamson has expressed optimism in the message she's been able to relay to New Hampshire voters -- an "economy of hope and opportunity" and an overhaul of health care and environmental wellness, among other issues, as her campaign website states.
"I feel when I speak to audiences, I feel heard and I feel this enthusiasm for our message. Getting out to enough people is hard. I don't have the multimillion-dollar ad campaigns. We don't have those kinds of resources," she said in an interview with ABC News.
"New Hampshire will decide," she continued. "If my numbers are high enough and I have the money, I'll be going on to the next state. If not, I will hold my head held high, proud of the messages that we gave and what this campaign stood for."
On the campaign trail, Phillips remains laser-focused on arguing for Biden's weaknesses, which has become the defining message of his candidacy, while Williamson shares her vision of America and her desire to boost the middle class.
"I can beat Donald Trump, Joe Biden will not beat him. Now, the country doesn't know that yet because they don't know me well, but I promise you come June or July when the polls come out showing me beating Donald Trump and Joe Biden losing to him, the Democrats will have a choice," Phillips said during an event over the weekend in Hanover.
538's polling average shows that, broadly, Biden is ahead of both Phillips and Williamson by at least double digits. But some voters have taken to their message.
"I will be voting for Rep. Dean Phillips. What matters most to me is ensuring that Donald Trump is defeated in the general election, which I believe Joe Biden incapable of doing, primarily due to current polling data in swing states and my lack of faith in his ability to debate Donald Trump on stage," Noah Amidon, a Dartmouth student, told ABC News.
Williamson, in her final pitch to voters on the night ahead of primary day, said "we need fundamental economic reform and that's really where America is today. Joe Biden for instance -- Joe Biden really wants to help people. He wants to help people survive what is inherently an unjust economic system. I want to end the injustice. It's not enough to just help people."
Melinda LaBarge, a Williamson voter from Keene, has hinged her support for the candidate upon that economic message, especially when compared to Biden's approach, she said.
"She's right when she says the system as it is is not going to disrupt itself. And the economic inequality in our country that she's speaking about, I believe is probably our biggest issue that I do not feel President Biden or President Trump are addressing," LaBarge said at a Williamson event in Hooksett on Monday.
Despite the picture painted by the polls, the candidates are insistent that there's a path for them to break through in the largely independent state.
"I have a number, I have a general number," Williamson said of the expectations she has for her performance on primary night, nodding when asked by ABC News if she was looking for a finish in the double-digit range.
"But you know, it's interesting -- when I've talked to people over the last few days, so many people haven't even decided who they're voting for yet," Williamson said, though she noted that she wasn't distinctly targeting undecided voters over Democrats. (Independent voters can cast ballots in either the Republican or Democratic primary.)
David Fine of Portsmouth is a volunteer for Williamson and has been working for the campaign since July. He, too, said that one of the largest barriers to her success is name identification, despite her previous presidential run.
"Name recognition for Marianne is weak, was weak and it's still pretty weak. But I think it's going to change in a few days ... we got so many undecided people, this thing here could turn," he said at one of Williamson's events in Portsmouth.
Phillips told ABC News that he believes a win is finishing "in the 20s."
Top Biden surrogates have demurred at predicting a successful amount of write-in ballots for him.
"A win is a win, it means getting the most votes," California Rep. Ro Khanna said on Saturday.
