Hey y'all, I'm playbook co-author Rachel Bade. It's Monday, July 8th, and once again, there is only one conversation driving the day.

It's, yes, the Democratic shitstorm over whether and aging Joe Biden should remain the party's nominee.

Today, a bit of a word about Hakeem Drefrees and Chuck Schumer. Becoming a member

of congressional leadership is about more than fundraising for lawmakers and setting a congressional

legislative schedule. It is also about making tough calls. And this week, Jeffries and Chuck Schumer

are about to learn that in the most difficult way imaginable.

Lawmakers are returning from congressional recess and a growing subset of Democrats are not only

poised to call on Joe Biden to step aside from the nomination. They're also looking at their

leaders to nudge him out. I'm hearing a sense that even as the ranks of Biden detractors

swell, only the party's elders have sway with him to actually trigger change.

That could be in the form of a private conversation with the president about the viability of his candidacy or even a public statement, though I do think the latter is pretty unlikely.

Regardless of what happens, the clock is ticking. I'm hearing from

Hill Democrats that the party can't keep dithering on this issue, which allows news cycle after

news cycle to be dominated by this bickering about whether Biden is even mentally capable of

handling another four years. It's just not good publicity. Multiple Democrats are looking at Friday as a sort of

soft deadline for Biden to prove that he's up to the job and for lawmakers to somehow get him to

withdraw if they determine that he's not. I talked to Mike Quigley last night who told me this is a

critical week people have to act. And frankly, it's time for some tough love. Quickly, obviously,

is one of the few Democrats who have

gone on record saying Biden needs to go. Another House Democrat, pretty senior, I will say, put it to me

this way. The larger issue here is, what does Hakeem do? If I were Hakeem, Nancy Pelosi, or Schumer,

I'd go to Jill Biden and say, this man is going to be in the top 10 best American presidents unless

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