The memo, first reported in a Monday story by website Semafor, urges the Democratic Party to adopt a “blitz primary” ahead of the August 19 convention.
The idea, written by two prominent Democrats, would require Biden to first step down soon, allowing Vice President Kamala Harris to become president. With Biden gone, party delegates will then vote for Harris or other Democrat candidates to be the presidential nominee before the convention.
The convention, which is August 19-22 in Chicago, is now 5 ½ weeks away.
“We can limp to shameful, avoidable democracy-ending defeat,” the authors write. “Or Democrats can make this Our Finest Hour.”
The plan and the memo describing it came from a Georgetown law professor, Rosa Brooks, and a venture capitalist named Ted Dintersmith.
Sandy Rios, director of governmental affairs at the American Family Association, calls the idea a “brilliant plan” after reading it.
“Have [Biden] make an incredible speech that just blows our ears back,” Rios says, accurately describing the memo’s dramatic descriptions. "And then everyone surrounds him in the speech, in which he says he's stepping down for the good of the country, and he will get accolades like he is just like George Washington."
The memo does mention a George Washington-like moment for Biden. It also imagines an exciting, Hollywood-like production at the convention, with Biden, Barack Obama, and Bill Clinton sharing the stage to announce the party’s nominee on the final day.
Even though Brooks told Semafor feedback has been positive from fellow Democrats, the biggest obstacle to the idea – at least as of today, July 11 – is President Biden himself. He is refusing to step down despite fear and concerns on Capitol Hill and despite the loss of big-money donors to the Democratic Party.
Editor's Note: The American Family Association is the parent organization of the American Family News Network, which operates AFN.net.
