No Labels won't run a third-party campaign after trying to recruit a centrist presidential candidate

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: AP

Updated 4:13 PM EDT, April 4, 2024


NEW YORK (AP) — The No Labels group said Thursday it will not field a presidential candidate in November after strategists for the bipartisan organization failed to attract a high-profile centrist willing to seize on the widespread dissatisfaction with President Joe Biden and Donald Trump.

“No Labels has always said we would only offer our ballot line to a ticket if we could identify candidates with a credible path to winning the White House,” Nancy Jacobson, the group’s CEO, said in a statement sent out to allies. “No such candidates emerged, so the responsible course of action is for us to stand down.”

The unexpected announcement further cements the general election matchup between the two unpopular major party candidates, Biden and Trump, leaving anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as the only prominent outsider still seeking the presidency. Kennedy said this week that he had collected enough signatures to qualify for the fall ballot in in five states.

No Labels’ decision, which comes just days after the death of founding chairman Joe Lieberman, caps months of discussions during which the group raised tens of millions of dollars from a donor list it has kept secret. It was cheered by relieved Democrats who have long feared that a No Labels’ ticket would fracture Biden’s coalition and help Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee. The Wall Street Journal first reported No Labels’ decision.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/no-labels-2024-third-party-biden-trump-c7477857e1dd05535326b8850f4500a1

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Article updated.

Original article/headline -

No Labels won't run a third-party campaign after spending millions trying to recruit a candidate

Updated 2:43 PM EDT, April 4, 2024


NEW YORK (AP) -- The No Labels group said Thursday it will not field a presidential candidate in November after strategists for the bipartisan organization were unable to attract a candidate willing to seize on the widespread dissatisfaction with President Joe Biden and Donald Trump.

"No Labels has always said we would only offer our ballot line to a ticket if we could identify candidates with a credible path to winning the White House," Nancy Jacobson, the group's CEO, said in a statement. "No such candidates emerged, so the responsible course of action is for us to stand down."

The decision caps months of discussions for No Labels, which has raised tens of millions of dollars from a donor list it has kept secret. While its decision will disappoint people seeking a potentially viable third-party option, it will come as a relief to Democrats who long accused the group of effectively helping Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee.

It also further cements a general election rematch this fall between the Democratic incumbent and the former president. Many voters do not have favorable views of Biden and Trump, a dynamic that No Labels had sought to address.

[bucolic_frolic]

1. There hasn't been a viable 3rd party candidate since 1912

So they've aired their delusions, now go home.

[former9thward]

5. Perot was.

He was leading both Bush and Clinton in the polls until he went off the rails.

[AZ8theist]

11. So bucolic's statement stands.

ifn' you want to get technical......

[former9thward]

12. Not in my view.

Perot could have won. He demonstrated that a third party could get traction under the right circumstances.

[AZ8theist]

17. hardly....

Perot didn't win a single state.
Teddy Roosevelt won 6 states and more votes than the Republican, Taft.
In my view bucolic is correct.

However, everyone is entitled to an opinion.

[former9thward]

18. Maybe you did not read the post.

I said BEFORE he went off the rails. He stopped his campaign and started spouting CTs. Then he tried to restart the campaign but it was too late. If he had stayed on track he could have won.

[AZ8theist]

19. I read your post.

I just disagree with your assessment.

I remember the campaign very well. There were a lot of people in both camps who thought Perot was a crackpot from the beginning.
There was literally no chance he could win. The results speak to that.

However, in 1912, Roosevelt nearly beat Taft for the Republican nomination before entering the race as an independent.
He did a remarkable job gathering the level of support he did before losing.

Perot was nowhere near that level of viability.

I don't want to be pedantic, I just wanted to affirm bucolics point.

No worries. I'm a student of history, and as such my opinions are worth about as much a steaming pile of manure. But it's worth the time spent learning, IMO.

[SouthBayDem]

21. Perot never reached 20% of the popular vote.

Neither have any of the third party candidates who ran after 1912.

[former9thward]

24. He was leading both Bush and Clinton in the polls.

Then because of his quirky personality his campaign imploded. If he had been more of a conventional candidate, he would have gotten more than 20% of the vote on election day and possibly won.

[SoFlaBro]

30. The goddamn polls were wrong then just like they are wrong now. Perot didn't have jack shit worth of a chance.

[bedazzled]

2. They don't need one

They have that RFK nutcase as a spoiler this year

[LiberalFighter]

3. Her husband Mark Penn supported Trump?

[Fiendish Thingy]

7. Wasn't Penn Hilary's campaign manager? Nt

[emulatorloo]

27. No, he was a chief strategist and pollster for Hillary 2008. He later turned against her and became a Trump defender.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Penn

Penn was a chief strategist and pollster in the Hillary Clinton 2008 presidential campaign. Penn later became a defender of Donald Trump, opposing his impeachment, consulting on his presidential campaign, and alleging a "deep state" conspiracy against him

[emulatorloo]

28. Yes, Penn supported Trump during his impeachment and claimed the "deep state" was conspiring against Trump.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Penn

Penn was a chief strategist and pollster in the Hillary Clinton 2008 presidential campaign. Penn later became a defender of Donald Trump, opposing his impeachment, consulting on his presidential campaign, and alleging a "deep state" conspiracy against him

[LetMyPeopleVote]

4. No Labels ends 2024 presidential efforts

The group's co-founder said that it was not able to identify "candidates with a credible path to winning the White House" on a third-party ticket.

Link to tweet

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/no-labels-ends-2024-presidential-efforts-rcna146455

No Labels, the bipartisan group that had been working toward putting a third-party presidential ticket on the ballot in all 50 states in 2024, announced Thursday that it was ending its efforts.

"No Labels has always said we would only offer our ballot line to a ticket if we could identify candidates with a credible path to winning the White House," No Labels CEO and co-founder Nancy Jacobson said in a statement. "No such candidates emerged, so the responsible course of action is for us to stand down."

Jacobson said the group will "remain engaged over the next year during what is likely to be the most divisive presidential election of our lifetimes. We will promote dialogue around major policy challenges and call out both sides when they speak and act in bad faith."

[Fiendish Thingy]

6. Good. Now, let's destroy RFK and the rest of the spoilers. Nt

[Elessar Zappa]

15. The more I hear RFK Jr. and his bullshit,

the more I think he actually siphons votes off Trump rather than Biden.

[NanaCat]

8. I guess the only one who was pushing for a POTUS

Candidate was that traitor, LIEberman. Now that he's shuffled off the mortal coil, nobody else has the overweening narcissism to get in the ring.

[prodigitalson]

10. I think he was gonna be the candidate

[PSPS]

9. "No Labels" has always been GOP in disguise and turned out to just be Lieberman's vanity party.

[Simeon Salus]

13. It was always a grift.

They were going to raise money and make consultants rich.

[Yavin4]

14. The people who work at No Labels skimmed money off of those millions spent.

This was a grift from the jump. A way to con money from very rich people who still think that a moderate has a chance of winning.

[Elessar Zappa]

16. Good news.

[BlueKota]

20. Watched a little bit of Arie Melber tonight

Howard Dean said if Trump and other Republicans lose big in November he thinks the Republican party is through because they went all in on Trump. He says he thinks disenchanted conservatives who are appalled by what's happened will create a new party that will replace the Republican one.

Thought this was interesting. I wonder if he's right, because like it has already been said in this thread a third party hasn't ever really been successful enough to survive .

[BumRushDaShow]

23. I think the "establishment"

would at least have a mandate to take their party back but they would need to do A LOT of house-cleaning.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

25. Tribute to No Labels' demise

Link to tweet

[bullimiami]

26. Biden is a CENTRIST. They were trying to recruit something else and not to the left of the real center.

[emulatorloo]

29. Biden is an old school LEFT LIBERAL. They tried to recruit Manchin and Romney but both saw through

their bullshit of trying to take votes from Biden in order to get Trump re-elected.

[Aussie105]

31. There is no one in the middle.

On the one side are the crazies, on the other side are those who react against the crazies.

The word is 'polarized'. American politics is polarized to the extreme.

No one is stupid enough to want to stand up in the middle of a real or gang war.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

32. This makes me smile

[BumRushDaShow]

33. LOL