No Labels group raises alarms with third-party presidential preparations

[Celerity]

It has money, name-brand political backers and declines to describe either President Biden or Donald Trump as acceptable candidates

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/04/02/no-labels-third-party-election/

https://archive.is/toOCZ


Former senator Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) gives a thumbs-up as he leaves the White House in 2017.

Former senator Joe Lieberman knows better than most the impact third-party bids can have on presidential elections. His 2000 Democratic campaign for vice president fell just 537 Florida votes short of victory, in a state where Ralph Nader, the liberal activist and Green Party nominee, won more than 97,000 votes.

But that didn’t stop the Connecticut Democrat turned independent from joining a meeting Thursday in support of plans by the centrist group No Labels to get presidential ballot lines in all 50 states for 2024. The group calls its effort an “insurance policy” against the major parties nominating two “unacceptable” candidates next year.

Asked if President Biden, his former Senate colleague, would be unacceptable, Lieberman said the answer was uncertain. “No decision has been made on any of that. But we’re putting ourselves in a position,” Lieberman said. “You know, it might be that we will take our common-sense, moderate, independent platform to him and the Republican candidate and see which one of them is willing to commit to it. And that could lead to, in my opinion, a No Labels endorsement.”

Uncertainty over the $70 million No Labels ballot effort has set off major alarm bells in Democratic circles and raised concerns among Republican strategists, who have launched their own research projects to figure out the potential impacts. As Lieberman spoke, the Arizona Democratic Party filed a lawsuit to block No Labels from ballot access in that state on procedural grounds. Matt Bennett of the centrist Democratic think tank Third Way has argued that the plot is “going to reelect Trump,” and Adam Green of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee has accused No Labels of wanting “to play the role of spoiler.”

snip


related

Manchin will decide in early 2024 if he runs for President on a centrist ticket.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100217783775

remember, No Labels is the parent org of the extremely problematic, bipartisan, obstructionist Problem Solvers caucus in the House (who worked hand in glove with Manchin and Sinema in the Senate), who fought against and succeeded in gutting major parts of Biden's agenda, and also has many members who were anti-Pelosi as Speaker in multiple Congresses and voted that way

[aocommunalpunch]

1. These fuckers never go away.

Conservative, neoliberal fuckwits. Take anything you can throw at Democratic Socialists and increase it by a factor of Pantera and you have this insidious collective group of slime. I’d love to see their defenders, but my ignore list already houses most of them.

[FalloutShelter]

2. THIS

[JHB]

3. No Labels is a grift, never been anything more

It's the high-rent version of "not a dime's worth of difference," no matter how low the Republicans sink.

[Just A Box Of Rain]

4. A third party ("centrist") run would hurt us in 2024.

Biden's coalition is wide, but drawing disaffected moderate-conservatives and centrists is part of what gave him the win in 2020.

We need the whole coalition.

[Hortensis]

5. Spoiler whackjob, your immense contempt for Democratic voters is reciprocated.

Last edited Sun Apr 2, 2023, 02:24 PM - Edit history (1)

Classic that someone whose spoiler plan is to prey on the uncommitted speaks of "commitment."

Clips from Influence Watch:

Funding: No Labels has received funding from numerous major donors. Hedge fund manager Louis Bacon, a donor to Republicans including Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT), began backing No Labels in 2018 when he gave $1 million to the organization’s associated PACs. James Murdoch, one of the more liberal members of the family of media mogul Rupert Murdoch, has given at least $1.2 million to New Labels’ associated PACs. Billionaire Nelson Peltz was a heavy donor to President Donald Trump and gave $900,000 to New Labels’ associated PACs. Other large PAC donors have included lawyer Dan Webb and financier Howard Marks.

Controversies: Several interviews by Politico of former staffers and those claiming to be familiar with the group have made a series of allegations regarding the organization’s “toxic” culture and hinting at “internal discord.” 18 Such allegations include hiring those previously fired from other jobs due to sexual assault allegations,... “The internal environment of No Labels is a hostile one which is clear by the fact that no one stays there very long…You either agree blindly to everything the CEO wants or they get rid of you.”