If you thought Republicans for Hillary was awesome, just wait until you get a load of the awesome star power of Republicans for Biden.

Appearing in an Instagram live chat with soccer star Megan Rapinoe on April 30, presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden made a spontaneous, vague statement about how he’s been “speaking to a lot of Republicans,” including “former colleagues, who are calling and saying Joe, if you win, we’re gonna help.”

Then he showed his hand: “Matter of fact, there’s some major Republicans who are already forming ‘Republicans for Biden,’” the former vice president said. “Major officeholders.”

The comment hardly received any attention at the time. But in declaring it, Biden ended up tipping off the earliest stages of a brewing effort that’s starting to get underway in certain Republican circles behind-the-scenes. 

Interviews with several of the most prominent NeverTrump Republicans reveal that for now, the nascent effort is loosely defined and could ultimately take a variety of forms.

Tell me it’s not just going to consist of Rick Wilson, Jeff Flake, Bill Kristol, Steve Schmidt, Jennifer Rubin, and wishful thinking?

Among the GOP’s more ardent anti-Trump faction, several names came up in conversation when asked who could theoretically have a role in an outside political entity, which would not be allowed under campaign finance laws to coordinate with the campaign directly. Those names include former Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), Wisconsin-based political analyst Charlie Sykes, conservative media giant Bill Kristol, former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele, longtime campaign operative Steve Schmidt, former Rep. David Jolly (R-FL), and columnist Mona Charen, among others.

Whoops. The best part is those are the ‘theoretical’ names. 

That’s like organizing a festival and hoping you can get some stale potato chips. 

Between “conservative media giant Bill Kristol” and “longtime campaign operative Steve Schmidt”, why even bother hauling Bill Weld off his yacht or asking S.E. Cupp to stop by. 

With star power like this, why wouldn’t any Republican vote for Biden? Can’t you just see the Jeff Flake ads script themselves? We are after all talking about giants who have defined what it means to be obscure, forgotten, and generally irrelevant.

But wait. A new star dawns on the horizon.

Meanwhile, one name in particular has been floated as a choice to help give legs to such an effort from the inside: former Republican Ohio Gov. John Kasich.

When your great hope is John Kasich, maybe it’s time to give up.