A Democratic candidate almost unknown to the United States defeated Biden in a party primary.
March 5 is the "Super Tuesday" of the 2024 U.S. ** election, with Democrats and Republicans intensively voting in party primaries in various states. Analysts believe that Biden will win these primaries, but he may lose the support of a small number of left-wing voters because he did not broker a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
However, in the primary election in American Samoa, Biden lost to a man named Jason Palmer. Biden thus became the first incumbent United States to lose a state-level party primary since 1980.
When the news broke, the United States and netizens raised a common question: Who is Jason Palmer?
Palmer ai figure Palmer campaign**.
The counterattack of small and medium-sized entrepreneurs
For the past week, Jason Palmer has been on American Samoa to persuade others to vote for him. It is a U.S. overseas territory in the South Pacific Ocean and the only U.S. territory in the Southern Hemisphere, nearly 10,000 kilometers from the mainland. The island has about 40,000 inhabitants, more than eighty percent of whom are Samoans. At the National Convention, where the Democratic Party produced the first candidate, there were 6 delegate votes. The primary election on March 5 was held to determine the ownership of these six votes.
Palmer, 52, is the youngest participant in this year's Democratic primary. Born into a white middle-class family in Baltimore, Maryland, he professed to be adventurous and money-making at a young age. According to his campaign,** Palmer's first career was as a waitress at a restaurant in New York State, loading groceries at supermarkets, picking up trash at drive-in theaters, and earning commissions on political lobbying with environmental groups.
After graduating from Harvard Business School, Palmer worked at Microsoft and Gates, where he was head of higher education and founded several technology companies.
Palmer claims to have founded or led tech startups with a combined market value of more than $100 million. He also created an AI campaign image for himself, which he claims to be the only one in the United States, aiming to "provide an immersive and interactive experience for voters." But the reporter used it and found that the AI system can only answer a given question. When asked what he thought of Palmer's victory in the Samoa primary, Palmer AI replied: "I'm sorry, I don't have any information ......”
Until the 2024** election, Palmer had no experience serving in the United States** or a political party, while most of Biden's other rivals have held key positions such as governor and congressman. When asked about his qualifications for politics, Palmer replied that the U.S. needs skills that are no different from those of "all types of successful leaders."
The only chance to win
Palmer knew he was a candidate with "little odds." American Samoa, where the primary voter is sparse, is the best chance for him to win national attention. In the 2020 Democratic primary, former New York Mayor Bloomberg won the only victory in American Samoa, and then announced that he would withdraw from the election in favor of Biden. But unlike Palmer, billionaire Bloomberg spent more than $200 million on advertising on Super Tuesday.
Palmer had his own way: he flew directly to Samoa and became the only candidate to come to this distant overseas territory in person. His social ** profile shows that he met locals behind a modest table and handed out some A4-sized flyers. As for the reason for coming to Samoa, Palmer said: "Washington, D.C. is long overdue for someone who cares about American Samoa."
This strategy worked. In the Democratic primary election on March 5, 91 local residents voted. Biden received 40 votes and Palmer received 51. As a result, Palmer got 4 delegate votes and Biden got 2 votes. That is, at the Democratic National Convention, which will be attended by 3,934 delegates, four people will vote for Palmer.
It's not a big deal: a candidate needs more than 1,968 votes to win the convention, and Biden has all but sealed the win. But on the other hand, it's unusual: Even among the Democratic primary candidates other than Biden, Palmer is the most inconspicuous one. But apart from him, other candidates have so far failed to take away a single proxy vote from Biden.
Palmer declared himself the winner of the American Samoa primary.
After winning the American Samoa primary, Palmer said on his social media that the victory "proves the power of our voices."
Palmer has repeatedly spoken about why he is running in the Democratic primary. He said he represented young voters who were "tired of Washington politics." His ultimate goal is to get 10% of the primary vote to "encourage Biden" to get the Democratic Party to replace him with a more suitable candidate.
Palmer also said that Biden's approach to dealing with the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is unsatisfactory. Palmer advocates an immediate ceasefire, and the United States must seek not to escalate the conflict, and should not try to become the "world's policeman"; Instead, the United States must advance an agenda aimed at "minimizing the loss of life" and support a path to a peaceful and just outcome.
Reporter: Cao Ran.