“In the past, candidates chased big donors and endorsements,” said Donna Brazile, the former Democratic chairwoman. “Now they’re chasing individual donors and trying to make sure they can get on the stage where it all matters,” she added, referring to the televised debates.



The traditional early nominating states are hardly being ignored by the two-dozen candidates, and are still poised to play their usual role of winnowing the field. But they no longer have what was effectively a stranglehold on the time, money and attention of the White House aspirants in the year leading up to the primaries. And states like California that were once mere A.T.M.s for presidential hopefuls — who would fly in, raise money and leave — are welcoming candidates for traditional campaign events.

That is in part because of the increased importance of Super Tuesday, which has moved up on the calendar. That one day alone may offer more than 38 percent of all delegates and could include such large, racially diverse states as California and Texas. Early voting will take place in both states in the weeks usually dominated by the whiter states of Iowa and New Hampshire. This new focus on places whose demographics reflect the Democratic coalition, the party’s drift left and President Trump’s stunning election and divisive presidency have also elevated a different set of priorities in the campaign.

“If you’re looking at that calendar, and you know you can’t just win this with white voters, then you have to go to other states,” said Jess Morales Rocketto, a Democratic strategist, referring to the states with significant Hispanic and African-American populations that will cast ballots on Super Tuesday, which is taking place three days after heavily black South Carolina.

This approach represents a reversal from 2008.

In that race — the last Democratic contest with such a competitive, multicandidate field — Barack Obama was determined to prove to white and nonwhite voters alike that he had appeal in states with little diversity. He spent 89 days in Iowa leading up to his triumph at the caucuses, which demonstrated to skeptics that an African-American from Chicago could win over a heavily white and rural state.

This time, the Democratic contenders of all races want to demonstrate their commitment to inclusion and racial justice in hopes of winning over white progressives and people of color — while also showing that they can capture the states and voters that tipped the White House to Mr. Trump in 2016, especially in the industrial Midwest.