On July 1, 2024, US President Biden delivered a speech on the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling in the Cross Hall of the White House in Washington, DC.
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Two Democrats with powerful networks of friends are circulating a proposal to ask President Joe Biden to drop out of the 2024 race and launch a Democratic primary to choose a new nominee before the August convention.
Rosa BrooksTed Dintersmith, a Georgetown University law professor and big Democratic donor who served in the Obama and Clinton administrations, co-authored the proposal, a copy of which was obtained by CNBC. Semafor first reported the memo.
The proposal comes as Biden faces pressure to withdraw from the race after suffering a setback in a June 27 debate with former President Donald Trump. The president’s debate performance set off alarm bells among Democratic strategists, lawmakers, donors and voters, adding to lingering concerns about Biden’s age and ability to defeat Trump.
Brooks said she and Dinte-Smith initially sent the memo on Tuesday to dozens of powerful Democrats, including major donors, Biden appointees and campaign officials.
As Brooks said in an interview with CNBC, they sent the plan to “everyone who we thought might have an influence on the president’s decision-making.”
The proposal lays out several key steps, starting with Biden announcing that he would withdraw from the race in mid-July, in a “speech for the ages,” as the memo’s authors envisioned.
“Overnight, Biden was hailed as a modern-day George Washington rather than an octogenarian clinging to power with an approval rating of 37%,” the proposal reads. “From goat to hero.”
The next phase of the plan is a “blitz primary,” in which potential Democratic candidates submit their bids and delegates to the Democratic National Convention ultimately narrow the list to six contenders.
The memo said the hypothetical expedited primary would involve a massive social media content campaign to appeal to voters, including among the candidates hosting celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey, Taylor Swift or Stephen Colbert. forum between.
Brooks and Dinter Smith’s vision ends with delegates voting at the Democratic National Committee to select the eventual nominee, who will theoretically benefit from the viewership and donations generated by the viral hype of the last blitz primary. Increase.
Brooks, who noted that she is not a political strategist, said the proposal should be viewed more as a living document and that many details of the plan have changed as Democrats who saw the memo assumed what they thought about it Toyed with.
“We know we can’t define what actually happened, but we’re very encouraged by the unanimous response: ‘Wow! If something like this happened, America would bounce back from this current downturn,'” Dinter Smith told CNBC’s E-mail said the email.
Brooks said they have received dozens of responses since the proposal was initially sent out on Tuesday, with the majority liking the plan despite the slim chance it will actually be implemented.
“The tone was, ‘Oh my gosh, this might not be possible, but it’s a good idea,'” Brooks said.
She added that the longer time went by, the more she felt people started to think the plan was feasible: “After a few days, it went away like, ‘Oh, that would be great if it could happen, but it probably can’t'” to “Why not?””
The Biden campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the proposal.
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