No Labels, a national political organization focused on electing centrist candidates, outlined its plans for choosing a president and a vice president for what it calls a “unity ticket” on March 14.
The group said it would establish the Country Over Party Committee to vet potential nominees.
The committee will include No Labels national co-chair and former NAACP executive director and CEO Benjamin Chavis, No Labels attorney Dan Webb, and former Connecticut Senator and No Labels founding co-chair Joe Lieberman, among others.
“Even though both major parties have settled on their presidential nominees, it’s clear the American people are still searching for another choice,” Mr. Lieberman said in a statement on March 14.
The Country Over Party Committee “is leading a rigorous process to ensure potential candidates embrace the governing values of the No Labels movement and the key elements of our Common Sense policy booklet.
Mr. Lieberman added that “if we find two candidates that meet our high threshold, we will recommend that ticket to No Labels’ delegates for a nomination vote at a National Nominating Convention that will be held later this spring.
Candidate Suitability
Candidates must agree to the group’s six core beliefs to be considered for the unity ticket, former Dallas mayor and No Labels National Convention Chair Mike Rawlings explained.The beliefs center on unity among Democrats, Republicans, and independents.
“We care about this country more than the demands of any political party,” Mr. Rawlings said.
Candidates must also “endorse the key elements of the No Labels commonsense policy booklet, which includes 30 ideas to address our nation’s most important challenges, ranging from immigration and border security to the budget flexion and growing threats from abroad,” Mr. Rawlings noted.
Mr. Lieberman told CNN that a candidate could be announced as soon as March 21.
No Labels has said for months that it would announce after Super Tuesday whether it would field a presidential unity ticket.
In a virtual meeting closed to the media last week, No Labels’ 800 delegates from all 50 states decided to continue its process to field a unity ticket that will include at least one Democrat and Republican, or an independent, and detail the selection process on March 14.
“They voted near unanimously to continue our 2024 project and to move immediately to identify candidates to serve on the unity presidential ticket,” Mr. Rawlings said of the meeting last week.
Founded in 2009, No Labels started as a 501(c)(4) nonprofit dedicated to promoting centrist candidates that aligned with its focus on bipartisanship and “common sense.”
The group has gained ballot access in 16 states, including key swing states Arizona and Nevada.
Multiple national polls have shown that more than half of U.S. voters don’t want to see a rematch between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.
In late January, a Reuters/Ipsos Poll showed that 70 percent of the respondents agreed with a statement that President Biden shouldn’t seek another term and 55 percent reported that they don’t think President Trump should run.
Potential Candidates
It remains unclear who No Labels will nominate to headline its ticket.Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, a centrist Democrat, was reportedly considering a potential No Labels bid for months. In February, he announced that he would not enter the presidential race. Earlier this month, Mr. Manchin said that No Labels should “take a hard look” and ask: “Is it going to basically work as a spoiler?”
“If you can’t get on 50 states and you’re going to basically hit in some of the battleground states, that could be very detrimental to what the outcome would be,” Mr. Manchin added.
Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican and a former No Labels co-chair, was mentioned as a potential No Labels presidential candidate. He stepped down from his post with the group in January, decided to run for U.S. Senate in Maryland, and backed former South Carolina governor and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley for president.
Ms. Haley, who dropped out of the Republican presidential primary earlier this week, has said she is not interested in headlining a No Labels presidential ticket.
Chris Christie, the former New Jersey governor who dropped out of the 2024 presidential primary in January, did not rule out a third-party run during an interview with ABC’s “Good Morning America” in early February.
Mr. Christie and Ms. Haley could have faced legal challenges in states with “sore loser” laws that don’t allow candidates to run in third-party general election tickets after losing in their party’s primary.
There was speculation that Rep. Dean Phillips, the Minnesota Democrat who had challenged President Biden in the party’s primary but dropped out on March 5, would consider a No Labels offer. After leaving the primary, he told Minneapolis radio station WCCO that he was endorsing President Biden.
He added that the president “is at a stage in life where his capacities are diminished, he is still a man of competency and decency and integrity. And the alternative, Donald Trump, is a very dangerous, dangerous man.”
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who left the Democrat presidential primary in October to run as an independent and is amid a quest to get on the ballot in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, has not been mentioned as a potential headliner for a No Labels unity presidential ticket.
He has gained widespread support from conservatives, moderates, and independents, and unifying the country is an emphasis in his campaign. In multiple polls, he has led all presidential candidates in favorability rating. There is speculation that Mr. Kennedy could be the Libertarian Party presidential nominee. He spoke at the California Libertarian Party’s annual convention in February, and the national party has expressed interest.
Former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, a Republican, appears to be a possibility to headline the No Labels unity ticket.
Mr. Duncan is a former health care executive and minor league baseball player who served three terms in the Georgia House of Representatives before he was elected as lieutenant governor in 2018.
‘A Vote for Donald Trump’
Multiple organizations believe that a No Labels presidential ticket would peel away votes from President Biden and benefit President Trump.One of these groups is The Lincoln Project, which bills itself as a pro-democracy organization.
“We’ve said it for months: A vote for No Labels is a vote for Donald Trump,” Reed Galen, co-founder of The Lincoln Project, told The Wall Street Journal. “The only way to stop the disintegration of democracy is to vote to re-elect President Biden.”
Some critics have claimed that No Labels has waited too long to select and announce its candidates. The group’s national strategist Ryan Clancy disagrees.
“We’re still eight months out from the election. I think most Americans would be happy if our campaigns were shorter, so I think there'll be plenty of time to get to know a candidate,” Mr. Clancy told NewsNation.
“Ultimately, what the public is looking for is the absence of what they’re getting from both sides. They’re looking for strong leadership, they’re looking for ethical leadership. They’re looking for some leaders who will just tell them the truth and just not play politics with the situations that matter with the voters’ lives. We think there’s really an opening for a unity ticket to provide a contrast from what voters are currently getting.”
