Details On the Proposed "Blitz Primary"

The oddest primary season in modern times may take an even stranger turn, as calls for Joe Biden to step down as presumptive Democratic nominee grow louder

From top left, “Cultural icons” like Taylor swift, Stephen Colbert, and Oprah Winfrey would hold public forums for a “blitz” primary, with the winner perhaps unveiled to “plenty of fanfare” by Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and Biden himself.

Semafor ran a report:

A pair of well-connected Democrats is offering an optimistic plan that would involve the president stepping down as the nominee and the party announcing a “blitz primary” process ahead of the August convention.

The “well-connected Democrats” are Georgetown law professor Rosa Brooks (Racket readers will remember the former defense official who co-led the 2020 “Transition Integrity Project”) and venture capitalist Ted Dintersmith, whose “blitz primary” would involve Joe Biden stepping down as presumptive nominee within weeks. He would then team with Vice President Kamala Harris to announce a new “positive only” intramural campaign for the nomination among the “six candidates who receive the most votes from delegates.”

Semafor said the memo described a process by which the chosen six would engage with voters through a series of public forums moderated by “cultural icons” like Oprah Winfrey, Taylor Swift, and Stephen Colbert. Delegates would then use a ranked choice system to pick a nominee, to whom the torch would be passed by Biden, Barack Obama, and Bill Clinton at the end of next month’s Democratic convention.

I reached out today to Brooks, who generously answered a series of questions about the “blitz,” including about the “celebs,” whose participation she said would be “optional.” Details are listed below, but first, a recap of the ten billion or so developments on the Democratic side of the presidential race you may have missed, if you blinked since Friday: