Althouse: "We don’t have a candidate. And it’s possible in the end we won’t find a suitable candidate."

March 9, 2024

"We don’t have a candidate. And it’s possible in the end we won’t find a suitable candidate."

"All of the prominent candidates approached by No Labels have refused. That’s because it’s clear that their ticket is a road to nowhere. No serious person wants to end up in the single digits nationally while helping Trump win.”

Said Matt Bennett, a co-founder of the Democratic-centrist group Third Way, quoted in "Leaked Audio Shows No Labels Has Zero Idea If It’ll Find a Candidate/There was a lot of palaver about how courageous and patriotic they all are. But if you listened closely, there were also admissions that the way forward is very murky" (The New Republic)("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...").

28 comments:

rehajm said...: No way is way…; 3/9/24, 1:57 PM
Joe Smith said...: Why not have Streisand and Whoopi run?

They can self-fund the campaign and it would be diverse.

A dumb Jewish singer and stupid, obese, black woman 'comic.'

Revel in the diversity...; 3/9/24, 1:58 PM
Nancy said...: So, No Labels = Help Biden Defeat Trump. Got it.; 3/9/24, 2:10 PM
tim in vermont said...: "No Labels is intended as a stalking horse for the Democrats; film at eleven."; 3/9/24, 2:29 PM
Sebastian said...: "No serious person wants to end up in the single digits nationally while helping Trump win."

Helping Biden win, OTOH, is not so bad. For a "serious" person.

By the way, should we read this as an indicator of the relative softness of Joe's support?; 3/9/24, 2:37 PM
cubanbob said...: No labels is for seriously unserious people. It means you can't make a hard decision. At least voting Green or Libertarian defines a choice, what is No Labels but some sort of inchoate mush?; 3/9/24, 2:49 PM
phantommut said...: Wouldn't it be a trip if Trump picked Sinema for V.P.? or Tulsi?; 3/9/24, 3:01 PM
Lawrence Person said...: Every significant, newly formed third party that has popped up in the last 40+ years (if not longer) is an attempt to derail Republicans.

Ditto the "Coffee Party"

Ditto "No Labels"

Ditto "Egg McMuffin"

Ditto the "Reform Party" (though the animating spirits behind that have been incorporated into the Republican Party by Trump)

Ditto John Anderson in 1980.

The Libertarians and the Greens are not part of this dynamic, though the Libertarians siphon more votes from Republicans than the Green siphon from Democrats.; 3/9/24, 3:04 PM
grimson said...: That seems true, and it also points out that people are mistaken if they think we currently have an ideological bell curve where moderates are a majority. The curve has flattened since the late 90's, resulting in no majority either by ideology or party.

Pew Research has an animation using polling from 1994 through 2017 that shows this us drifting apart.; 3/9/24, 3:14 PM
gilbar said...: They should pick Lauren Philips.. She might not seem to have more experience than Kyrsten Sinema,
but TRUST ME, she's got more experience; 3/9/24, 3:17 PM
Ann Althouse said...: If No Labels wants to help Biden, it should just pick someone who draws votes from Trump.

But who? Nikki??

Nikki *pledged* to support the GOP nominee.; 3/9/24, 3:26 PM
MadTownGuy said...: "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..."

They say that as if it were a bad thing.; 3/9/24, 3:43 PM
MadTownGuy said...: Blogger Lawrence Person said...

"Every significant, newly formed third party that has popped up in the last 40+ years (if not longer) is an attempt to derail Republicans.

Ditto the "Coffee Party."

The Economist called it 'The Herbal Tea Party.'; 3/9/24, 3:47 PM
Joe Smith said...: 'Nikki *pledged* to support the GOP nominee.'

And we all know that politicians never lie!; 3/9/24, 3:53 PM
StoughtonSconnie said...: “ If No Labels wants to help Biden, it should just pick someone who draws votes from Trump.”
Professor, whether intentionally or not, and I love that that is not certain, your question begs the answer. There is no Venn diagram where the circles of potential No Labels voters and current Trump voters intersect, just as there are no circles where potential No Labels voters and current Biden voters intersect. The unspoken assumption being that any current “persuadable” voters who would go for a moderate No Labels candidate would predominantly come from potential Biden voters. I think it also speaks to the fear among opinion elite that the base election strategy that worked for Obama in 2012 and Biden in 2020 might not work this time, and 2024 might be more like 2016.
If No Labels was actually interested in being an option, they would be looking at how they could appeal to the vast middle that isn’t interested in the Trump cult drama ,the self-serving government/union leadership bureaucracy, or the abortion/gender/immigration extremism of the left. There are tens of millions of us out there. That there are no options is an indictment of the political class we have. Very few are worthy of their predecessors of even 30 years ago, much less the brilliance of our founders.; 3/9/24, 4:32 PM
RCOCEAN II said...: What about a Liz Cheney- Dick Cheney ticket?

Surely some old boomers will think they're voting to bring back the ol' Bush days.; 3/9/24, 4:53 PM
Yancey Ward said...: Significant third party candidacies (those that get more than 1%) pretty much without exception draw votes away from the party that holds the White House. They don't always cause that party to lose the election, but that is the way it pretty much always goes- see T. Roosevelt in 1912, Strom Thurmond in 1948, George Wallace in 1968, and Ross Perot in 1992. More minor cases- Ralph Nader in 2000, Jill Stein in 2016.; 3/9/24, 5:49 PM
Mason G said...: "the Trump cult drama ,the self-serving government/union leadership bureaucracy, or the abortion/gender/immigration extremism of the left."

The Trump cult drama is created and maintained by the same people who are responsible for the rest of your list.

Just sayin'.; 3/9/24, 5:53 PM
Rabel said...: There's an apparent organized effort to shut down the No Labels group and that article is part of it.

If you had any inclination to put your support behind this third party group, would that article based on insignificant cross-talk in a meeting not dissuade you from such foolishness or discourage you if you were already involved?

The Left doesn't miss a trick. And they're good at what they do.; 3/9/24, 5:54 PM
Yancey Ward said...: This election is somewhat unique in that both candidates, as of today, have been President. So, if No Labels could get a high profile Republican to run, it would draw some votes from Trump, but that is the problem- dissatisfaction necessary to draw in such a candidate that can get >1% of the vote anywhere is pretty much always dissatisfaction with the party in power- Trump isn't in power- he is the insurgent here.

My guess is that No Labels ends up with Liz Cheney or a David French clone that gets about 0.25% of the vote, and might actually still take it out of Bidens voters.; 3/9/24, 5:54 PM
mikee said...: Pat Paulsen, were he available, would be a fine candidate for this "Party" to support.; 3/9/24, 6:14 PM
Mikey NTH said...: The only time groups like this get major media attention is when the media sees a non-Democratic party candidate coming along and the media desperately wants to let its readers/listeners/viewers know that there is a safe alternative to the very scary Juggernaut of Doom.; 3/9/24, 6:19 PM
The Vault Dweller said...: Something tells me No Labels didn't ask RFK Jr. to run on their ticket. It is hard to take people seriously that they want a third party option, when they don't actually run a candidate. Being earnest about a third option in all likelihood means running a candidate who loses and likely causes your other preferred candidate to lose. If you aren't willing to pay the cost or run the risk then just make due with what you got. I guarantee that if people broadcast their intent to vote 'uncommitted' in stead of Joe Biden in the general like they did in the primary and it is viewed as costing Joe Biden the election then Democrats would reassess their middle east policy vis-à-vis Israel and Palestine. I don't think it would be a complete reversal but there would be significant change. But then those people would have actually paid a cost for that.; 3/9/24, 6:26 PM
Aggie said...: If your cause is hopeless because the 'scale of the differences' is unmanageable, then you're left with leveraging with others by forming coalitions. Why don't the 'no labels' folks try partnering with RFK Jr? Admittedly, 'Kennedy' is a label, but it's a old one, past its political 'Sell By' date.; 3/9/24, 7:13 PM
StoughtonSconnie said...: @MasonG - couldn’t agree more! But that doesn’t justify a vote from me for Trump. It’s a horrible conundrum for those on the center-right or those like me on the more traditional right. Those same forces that despise Trump the most, the self-serving government/union leadership bureaucracy, or the abortion/gender/immigration extremism of the left, benefit from his success. If Trump wins this fall, there may be a temporary reprieve from the lunacy of those groups. But it also means that down-ballot it’s highly likely to be damaging, and in 2026, the wipeout of anyone to the right of the lunatic left will be possibly irreversible.; 3/9/24, 7:54 PM
gilbar said...: But who? Nikki??
Nikki *pledged* to support the GOP nominee.

i've been assuming, for quite some time; that Nikki, and Lizard Cheney, will run in an attempt to steal votes from Trump.. Without either of them being able to process that NEITHER of them will tempt ANYONE that would vote for Trump.
Seriously, if you would vote for Nikki.. TRY to convince me that your vote could have gone for Trump?; 3/9/24, 8:16 PM
Mason G said...: "If Trump wins this fall, there may be a temporary reprieve from the lunacy of those groups. But it also means that down-ballot it’s highly likely to be damaging..."

That didn't happen last time. Just looking at how things are going right now with FJB (and the idiot Dems) in charge, why do you think it will be different this time?

"and in 2026, the wipeout of anyone to the right of the lunatic left will be possibly irreversible."

There does need to be someone to carry forward the message that the welfare of the American people (not illegal aliens coming into the country through abandoned borders or terrorists in the mideast) should be the focus of government policy. Who that person might be, I don't know.; 3/9/24, 8:29 PM
Tina Trent said...: Geoff Duncan is their current choice. Georgia Lt. Governor, briefly MLB player. RINO.

Personally, a nice guy. And he is appealing in many ways to this cohort of imaginary independent thinkers. Don't fall for it.

This is not a good idea, especially on immigration. Also I don't think he has the chops to go national. I feel bad to say this, because he was extremely nice to me when I ran. But I vote issues.; 3/11/24, 8:29 AM