Article snippet: JAMES PINDELL With less than 11 months until the New Hampshire primary, the list of Democratic presidential candidates is only getting longer (15 and counting!). Contenders are already hiring senior staff and making multiple campaign visits to the first-in-the-nation primary state, which has often served as a make-or-break contest for top candidates seeking their party’s presidential nomination. With that as a backdrop, here are the first rankings of the 2020 Democratic presidential candidates, ordered by their likelihood of winning the New Hampshire primary if it were held today (it’s slated for Feb. 11, 2020). This list is based on interviews with activists and operatives in the state, recent polling, and an evaluation of the campaign’s on-the-ground operation. But two other factors loom large in early rankings — name recognition and competition for a niche of voters. Name recognition is one reason why former vice president Joe Biden is so high on the list, even though he has virtually no New Hampshire operation. The state’s activists and insiders may have credible favorites already, but the vast majority of voters don’t know who these candidates are yet — except, in many cases, for Biden. In the competition for a niche of voters, there are a lot of progressive candidates slicing up the vote on the far left, which makes it a good time to be a moderate, strategically. Also, New Hampshire has an open primary, which means the state’s independent voters are allowe... Link to the full article to read more