Two Democrats with a powerful network of friends are circulating a proposal for President Joe Biden to drop out of the 2024 race and launch a fast-track Democratic primary to pick a new nominee before the August convention.
Rosa Brooks, a Georgetown University law professor who previously served in both the Obama and Clinton administrations, and Ted Dindersmith, a high-dollar Democratic fundraiser, authored the proposal, a copy of which was obtained by CNBC. Semafor was the first to report the memo.
The proposal comes as pressure mounts on Biden to drop out of the race following his nasty June 27 showdown with former President Donald Trump. The president’s performance in the debate set off alarm bells for Democratic strategists, lawmakers, donors and voters, escalating lingering concerns about Biden’s age and ability to beat Trump.
Brooks said she and Dindersmith initially sent the memo Tuesday to dozens of powerful Democrats, including major donors, Biden appointees and campaign officials.
As Brooks put it in an interview with CNBC, they sent the plan to “Everyone we thought might have the ears of anyone who has any influence on the president’s decision-making.”
The proposal lays out several key steps, starting with Biden announcing he will drop out of the race in mid-July in what the memo’s authors envision as a “speech for the ages.”
“Overnight, Biden is hailed as a modern-day George Washington, not an octogenarian clinging to power with a 37% approval rating,” the proposal reads. “From goat to hero”.
The next phase of the plan is the “blitz primaries,” where Democratic candidates submit their bids and Democratic National Convention delegates ultimately narrow the list to six candidates.
The hypothetical accelerated primaries would include a massive social media content campaign to engage voters, including forums between the candidates moderated by celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey, Taylor Swift or Stephen Colbert, according to the memo.
Brooks and Dintersmith’s vision ends with delegates voting on the final nominee at the DNC, which in theory will benefit from increased viewership and donations from the viral hype of previous primary blitzes.
Brooks, who noted that it is not a political strategy, said the proposal should be viewed more as a living document and that many of the plan’s details have changed as Democrats who saw the memo presumably played with its ideas.
“We know we’re not in a position to define what’s actually going on, but we’re so encouraged by the uniform reaction: ‘Wow! he said in an email to CNBC.
Since initially sending out the proposal Tuesday, Brooks said they’ve received dozens of responses, most of which like the plan, even if it has little chance of actually being implemented.
“The tone was very much ‘Oh my God, this is probably impossible, but what a great idea,'” Brooks said.
He added that as time goes on, the more he feels people are starting to see the plan as viable: “It’s gone, in a few days, from, ‘Oh, that would be so great if it could happen, but it probably can’t,’ to “Why can’t he?”
Responding to a request for comment on the proposal, the Biden campaign said July’s fundraising was so far the “strongest grassroots start to a month ever.”
The campaign also pointed to Biden’s remarks in Wisconsin on Friday: “I’m not going to let a 90-minute debate wipe out three and a half years of work. I’m staying in the race and I’m going to beat Donald Trump.”
