Democrats plan ‘blitz’ to replace Biden, and they think Taylor Swift can help

Two Democrats are reportedly targeting a number of celebrities – including Taylor Swift – to pledge their support in a blitz primary election should President Joe Biden withdraw his candidacy for re-election before November.

The plan – first reported by Semafor and detailed by CNBC on Sunday – calls for Biden to drop out of the race in mid-July, announcing the move after his poor performance in the debate prompted Democrats to call for him to resign.

The process is intended to give potential Biden successors the opportunity to express their interest in running before a “primary sprint.” The field of participants is to be reduced to the six candidates who receive the most votes from the delegates before the Democratic Party convention.

Swift – along with Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey and Stephen Colbert – were named among the celebrities who could moderate forums with the candidates to engage voters.

The singer, a Trump critic who previously showed their support for the Biden-Harris ticket in 2020, has not yet endorsed anyone for president in 2024.

The plan also calls for delegates to vote for the nominee before next month’s convention, while Biden – along with former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton – could announce the replacement candidate.

The proposal comes from Rosa Brooks, a law professor at Georgetown University who previously served in the Obama and Clinton administrations and also served as a volunteer political adviser to Biden’s 2020 campaign, and Ted Dintersmith, a Democratic donor and former venture capitalist.

It was reportedly distributed to Democratic donors, fundraisers, Biden administration officials and members of the Biden campaign.

“The tone was very clear: ‘Oh my God, this is probably impossible, but what a great idea,'” Brooks told CNBC, also noting that parts of the plan have been adjusted since the proposal was presented to Democrats.

“Within a matter of days, the message went from ‘Oh, that would be so great if only it could happen, but it probably can’t happen’ to ‘Why can’t it happen?'”

Dintersmith told Semafor that “in the midst of discomfort and crisis, we can forge an uplifting path.”

He told CNBC that neither he nor Brooks were able to “define what is actually happening.”

“But the unified response is so encouraging: ‘Wow! If something like this happened, America would be able to get out of its current doldrums,'” Dintersmith wrote in an email.

A Biden campaign spokesman, in response to Semafor and CNBC’s reports on the plan, referred to the president’s statement that he would not allow “A 90-minute debate destroys three and a half years of work” on Friday.

The campaign also said that July was the month with the “strongest grassroots fundraising ever.