The No Labels Party, which has been swearing up and down on a stack of Bibles that they would not run a candidate for president unless they had a chance of winning is getting ready to field a candidate for president.
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Whether they could win or not is apparently not the issue. But if you give the party $100, you can vote for the candidate of your choice at a nominating convention to be held sometime next spring.
At least, that’s from the Associated Press which was given screenshots of some internal party documents that broached the idea. The documents were from an internal survey, that the AP says, “explored how No Labels should select candidates to run on a bipartisan ‘unity ticket’ if the 2024 election is headed for a rematch between Donald Trump and President Joe Biden.”
“No Labels is focused on getting ballot access and we are still working on our process for how we would offer our ballot line to a Unity ticket,” No Labels chief strategist Ryan Clancy said. “We can confirm no delegates to our convention will need to donate to No Labels or pay to be one.”
No doubt strategists were just spitballing. But the important takeaway from this leak is that the No Labels Party is getting everything ready to field a candidate in 2024 regardless of whom they hurt or help.
No Labels initially planned to release its candidate selection plans in October but has yet to do so. The survey provides a rare window into the deliberations and research of a group that could have a major impact on the 2024 election. In Arizona, No Labels has registered nearly 19,000 voters, a figure larger than Biden’s winning margin over Trump in 2020. Some Democrats fear a No Labels candidate would siphon enough votes from Biden to return Trump to the White House.
One of the group’s survey questions asked, “What is the fairest way to determine who can be a delegate” to the No Labels nominating convention? It offered four options: “active participation” in No Labels “over a defined period.” A donation of $100 “to demonstrate genuine commitment” was another, as was a signed commitment to support the group’s “policy priorities and governing principles.” Another option listed was, “anyone should be able to be a delegate if they are chosen by their local No Labels chapter.”
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Any candidate put up by No Labels will invariably hurt Biden. The Republican candidate on the ticket will likely be a moderate like Jon Huntsman, former Governor of Utah, or former Maryland Governor Larry Hogan.
On the other hand, if Robert Kennedy managed to get on enough ballots, his candidacy would hurt Trump more than Biden.
Whatever initial burst of enthusiasm there was for the No Labels Party has passed. Their impact on 2024 is likely to be less and less the closer we get to election day.