What If No Labels Ran A Democrat And A Republican On The Same Ticket And ZZZZZZZZZZ
What If No Labels Ran A Democrat And A Republican On The Same Ticket And ZZZZZZZZZZ
These fucking people, man.
The centrist No Labels group is still eager to play spoiler in the 2024 presidential election. National director Joe Cunningham, a one-term Democratic House member and failed South Carolina gubernatorial candidate, told radio host Steve Gruber this week, “No one’s excited about [a Joe Biden/Donald Trump] rematch. And the large population is open to another option. So what we’re doing, we’re getting the ballot access in all 50 states plus Washington DC. And we’ll be prepared to offer that ballot line if these two major nominees are the ones that the vast majority of Americans don’t want.”
No one needs to be excited about the next election. I’m not exited to floss every day but I prefer not gumming my food. Sometimes our choices are that simple.
Cunningham’s 41 so his first presidential election was George W. Bush versus Al Gore. He should appreciate the impact a third party candidate can have when non-savvy voters insist that both candidates are uninspiring and equally bad. That sentiment was wrong in 2000 and it’s catastrophic now.
Doug Jones, the Democratic former senator from Alabama, chastised Cunningham on Xitter. When you’ve earned a tongue-lashing from Doug Jones, you should reconsider your life choices.
“So Joe — who’s funding the No Labels ballot access program?” Jones wrote. “Surely they know you guys can’t win. Even your polling shows that. But you may very well be the spoiler that puts Trump back in the White House. Maybe that’s exactly what your mystery donors want.”
All serious polling shows that a mealy mouthed moderate No Labels candidate not only can’t win but would pull away critical support from Biden, the non-indicted candidate. When politicians such as Joe Manchin suggest otherwise, they are either lying or can’t math. (Both are possible in Manchin’s case.)
It’s obvious that No Labels wants to hurt Biden without overtly helping Trump. The “both sides suck” rhetoric, when the likely Republican nominee is a fascist criminal, deliberately minimizes the stakes of the 2024 election. That would only benefit Trump, as admittedly Biden isn’t as hot as a ticket to a Taylor Swift concert.
No Labels, like any honorable enterprise, has refused to disclose its financiers. However, Mother Jones revealed in June that “the No Labels backers are donors who contributed millions of dollars to Republican causes, such as past GOP presidential candidates and super-PACS connected to Republican congressional leadership, and several who have poured money into the Democratic presidential campaigns of Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Joe Biden. One donor provided a big chunk of political cash to Donald Trump. Generally, these No Labels supporters, who mostly made contributions of $5,600 to its 2024 project, appear to favor conservative candidates, though many have played both sides of the aisle, financing Republican and Democratic politicians.”
It’s not unusual for big money donors to play both sides. They want to remain in the room where it happens. Overall, though, it seems as if these donors are mostly aligned with right-wing interests.
Politico reports this week that the new leader of No Labels’ Florida chapter is Allan Keen, a real estate developer and investor who donated more than $137,000 to Trump-related election entities in 2020.
“I help when I can help. I believe in the cause,” Keen said.
Yeah, I’m sure he believes in No Labels’ “cause.” The big question is why does actual Democrat Joe Cunningham? Biden endorsed Cunningham when he ran for Congress, but Cunningham held out on returning the favor when Biden later ran for president. After Cunningham lost the 2022 governor’s race, he prioritized a No Labels paycheck over keeping Trump out of the White House.
“Like many of you, I am extremely disappointed that we seem to be heading towards a rematch of Trump vs. Biden in 2024, and I am desperate for new leadership,” Cunningham said when he joined No Labels. “That’s why I am working with No Labels to secure ballot access for a unity ticket — a Democrat and a Republican on the same ticket for president and vice president — to provide Americans with a better choice.”
The “unity ticket” is absurd, as non-MAGA Republicans struggle to win their own primaries. True “red dog” Republicans know enough to vote for Democrats. Cunningham is seeking “unity” with the wrong crowd.
[Politico]
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I look forward to the day when we can have a non-partisan/bipartisan White House. However, that day will not be November 6, 2024.
No labels, man! We’re like Naomi Kline! This is such errant dog meat. Richard Hofstader: “third parties are like bees: they sting and they die.” In this case, what might die is democracy, as well as this ridiculous astroturf party.