The “anti-partisan” group No Labels has raised $70 million in an effort to get on the ballot in all 50 states. In an election that’s expected to be very close, could it really be a decisive factor in the 2024 presidential election?
The group hasn’t decided whether to field a presidential candidate in 2024 yet. But surely, an effort to get on all 50 ballots won’t be wasted on down-ballot candidates. No Labels wants to change politics in America, and Democrats like things just the way they are.
The Arizona Democratic Party has filed suit to block No Labels from ballot access in that state on procedural grounds. And Republicans in several states have launched their own research projects to determine what negative impact, if any, No Labels would have on the prospects for their candidates.
But it’s Democrats who are sweating the entry of a third-party candidate with crossover appeal. And they appear to be lining up to stomp on No Labels to keep it from pulling votes away from their candidate.
“The only way you can justify this is if you really believe that it doesn’t really matter if it is Joe Biden or Donald Trump,” said Stuart Stevens, a former presidential campaign strategist for George W. Bush, John McCain, and Mitt Romney, who now works with the anti-Trump Lincoln Project. “So it is sort of a test. If you live in a world where it doesn’t matter, this is kind of harmless. If you live in a world where it does matter, it is dangerous.”
Not surprising coming from Stevens, who blamed conservatives staying home in 2012 for Romney’s loss. But one of the co-founders of the group, William Galston, a Brookings Institution policy scholar, says he’d leave No Labels if they ran a presidential candidate.
“I am proud of No Labels’ record of bipartisan legislation, and I know its leaders want what is best for the country. But I cannot support the organization’s preparation for a possible independent presidential candidacy,” he said in a statement. “There is no equivalence between President Biden and a former president who threatens the survival of our constitutional order. And most important, in today’s closely divided politics, any division of the anti-Trump vote would open the door to his reelection.”
I suppose if you believe the election of Trump is a really, really, bad thing, then the group will collapse when the Democrats in the group resign in disgust. But it appears most of the No Label Democrats are just fine with fielding a candidate in 2024 and some may even join the effort.
West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin hasn’t announced his intention to run again in 2024, but his name has been tossed around as a potential No Labels presidential candidate.
“If enough Americans believe there is an option and the option is a threat to the extreme left and extreme right, it will be the greatest contribution to democracy, I believe,” Manchin said in an interview. When asked whether he would participate in a No Labels ticket, he said, “I don’t rule myself in and I don’t rule myself out.”
The same reaction came from former Maryland Republican Governor Larry Hogan.
“I think it is really important to have that option. Because we have never been at the point we are today in America,” Hogan added. “The vast majority of people in America are not happy with the direction of the country and they don’t want to see either Joe Biden or Donald Trump as president.”
Third parties in the U.S. start out with a lot of excitement and glowing media coverage but always end up with 2% or 3% of the vote. Except for this time, 2-3% of the vote might decide the election.
No wonder Democrats want to sabotage No Labels and keep them off as many state ballots as they can.
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