No Labels held a virtual "convention" on Friday with, we're told, of more than 800 chosen delegates discussing the idea of fielding a candidate to run for president.
According to a leaked audio of the proceedings, it didn't go well. But they were certainly good about patting themselves on the back.
“We have to do this for our country,” one official enthused. “You could be making history,” another one said, adding that this effort takes “a lot of courage.”
But that didn't stop No Labels leadership from dreaming about a viable ticket.
"If the rank and file of No Labels says to us tomorrow, 'Go for it,'" ex-Senator Joe Lieberman told Newsmax Thursday, "we'll do some last polling to see whether we can actually win, and then we'll choose the best ticket we can."
"Choosing the best ticket" is taking a trip to fantasyland. That isn't stopping No Labels from pretending it can happen.
"The right candidate is out there," group founder Nancy Jacobson insisted in The Dallas Morning News on February 29. "That's the last piece we need."
Check under that manure pile there. You may find your unicorn.
But audio of the call on which the vote was held suggests another interpretation may be more accurate: The group really has no idea whether it will be able to move forward at all. It still appears stuck in the same position as before: No serious candidates appear interested, and there’s no sign that this is changing, at least not yet.
Audio of the call was provided to The New Republic by Matt Bennett, a co-founder of the Democratic-centrist group Third Way, who obtained it from one of the 640 or so delegates who participated. Third Way, along with a coalition of other groups, has warned for months that a No Labels ticket would be most likely to siphon votes away from President Biden, meaning it would function as a spoiler that could help Donald Trump win.
That scenario might have been true before candidates like Joe Manchin and Nikki Haley refused to be considered for the top spot on a No Labels ticket. As it stands now, No Labels has no viable candidate for president. Everyone else has turned them down.
What we do know is that the list of politicians rebuffing No Labels' advances grows almost as fast as the organization floating candidate names to the press: former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, Sen. Joe Manchin (D–W.Va.), vanquished Republican contender Nikki Haley, and steamrolled Biden-challenger Dean Phillips (D–Minn.).
On Thursday afternoon, The Wall Street Journal reported that "One candidate the group is interested in, according to a person familiar with its discussions, is Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I., Ariz.), a former Democrat who said this week that she wouldn't run for re-election." Less than three hours later, Sinema ruled it out.
It should be clear to anyone in politics that there's no room between the right and the left for a "centrist" candidate." Voters may whine and grumble about having to choose Trump or Biden but the reality is that they're comfortable with that choice. It's the mainstream media, the intelligentsia, and the elites who think the voters are desperate for an alternative.
No Labels says they will raise $300 million for their ticket. As it stands now, they're going to have to spend most of that developing name recognition for an unknown candidate who will likely be a non-entity.
The group will have an immense problem raising that kind of cash. No billionaire is going to open their wallet unless there's a viable presidential candidate heading the ticket. Since that's not going to happen, how are they going to raise the money.
No Labels is the smoke and mirrors party. They may be reaching the end of the line as they're exposed as serial exaggerators and liars.
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