Amid fears of cash drying up, one adviser described ongoing discussions about how to avoid a repeat — fight harder in New Hampshire? Retrench to Nevada? Or pull all the way back to South Carolina, the campaign’s Feb. 29 firewall?

The upcoming New Hampshire primary doesn’t offer any respite to Biden: advisers within the campaign have long considered the state among the weakest early states for Biden, in part due to Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders’ home state proximity. The campaign has also long said Biden would fare better in more diverse places like Nevada and South Carolina.

Biden has trailed Sanders, who is in first place, in nearly every poll taken in New Hampshire this year.

While the campaign remains confident of its advantage in South Carolina, where Biden enjoys outsized African-American support, his position there might not be able to withstand a series of dispiriting defeats.

“We believe South Carolina is our firewall and it is,” said a Biden adviser. “But if we lose three straight in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada, the fire can jump the wall.”

To that end, a pro-Biden super PAC recently provided $900,000 in air cover in New Hampshire this week, while the campaign has already started to show more of a commitment to Nevada by committing $76,000 more in TV advertising money in the weeks leading up to its Feb. 22 caucuses, according to Advertising Analytics.

The data show that Biden is on pace to spend a total of $607,000 on TV in Nevada, behind Warren, who is spending less than $1 million, and Tom Steyer, who is spending $650,000.

And more staff is on the way there, the adviser said.

“Nevada is crying out for resources and we should give it to them, but some of us think we can rely on South Carolina and that’s a big mistake,” the adviser said. “Bernie is on the move in Nevada. It’s a caucus state. We just got crushed in a caucus state. Do the math.”

Biden appeared to acknowledge his tenuous position Wednesday, conceding that he “got knocked down.” But he also displayed a more fiery approach by sharply criticizing Buttigieg by name for the first time on the campaign trail.

Supporters liked the new fight in him.

“This was a knock. But he admitted it. He’s going to get up and keep going and fight even harder,” said Sarah Morgenthau, a Biden donor and fundraiser. “Showing that strength and resilience shows that Joe Biden magic. It’s not just that big smile. It’s that he has that ability to identify with the struggles of everyday Americans.”

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