Joe Biden's New Hampshire Primary Party, In Pictures

NASHUA, New Hampshire — Before a winner had been declared in the nation's first primary of 2020, the already sparse crowd at Joe Biden's primary night party had thinned to a handful of staffers and volunteers.Joe Biden himself was elsewhere."Welcome to the celebration of Joe Biden for president of the United States," said former New Hampshire governor John Lynch, a little earlier, at the peak of the party, to a group of about 150 at the castle-themed hotel headquarters Biden’s campaign had been based out of during his final New Hampshire swing.“I can sense him in the air, I know my big brother’s around here some place," Valerie Biden Owens, the former vice president’s sister, said, right before Biden beamed into the room on TV screens from South Carolina.The first and only guests so far to walk in and have a drink at Biden's NH primary night party: members of the American Political Items Collectors. And we want you all to know how much we appreciate everything you’ve done, truly from the bottom of our hearts,” he said."We need to hear from Nevada and South Carolina and Super Tuesday states and beyond...99.9%, that's the percentage of African-American voters that have not had a chance to vote in America — 99.8% of Latino voters haven't had a chance to vote," Biden said in South Carolina shortly after, to mild applause from the New Hampshire crowd.An NH Biden surrogate, former NH Gov John Lynch, just got here and is talking to mediaThe scene was consistent with the small crowds Biden has drawn at events in both Iowa and New Hampshire over the last two weeks — but it was in stark contrast to Biden’s Iowa party, which was buzzing with senior staff, surrogates, and volunteers before it became clear that the former vice president would be finishing not first, not second, but further down the list.“He’s fighting," a senior Biden adviser told reporters on a conference call before Friday’s debate in New Hampshire. I took a hit in Iowa and I'll probably take a hit here,” he conceded.On Tuesday morning, less than a week after telling voters in Somersworth, New Hampshire, that he was “counting on” their state and several hours before his own primary night party began, Biden announced that he was leaving for South Carolina.Local volunteers seemed resigned to the results in New Hampshire before they’d even come in, and supportive of Biden having moved on.“We’ve had a lot of Joe here for the last several months.