Democrats are expressing worry about a third party that has gained ballot access in three states for the 2024 general election.
Just as Al Gore warned in 2000 that a vote for third party candidate Ralph Nader was — effectively — a vote for Republican George Bush, they are terrified this could do the same.
Independent presidential candidate Ross Perot shocked both major political parties when he received 18.9 percent of the popular vote during the 1992 general election.
The 19.7 million votes he received during the 1992 election was the best showing by any independent or third party candidate in U.S. history.
No Labels is a group that claims it will give voters a nonextreme presidential option next year. The new political party has qualified to appear on 2024 presidential election ballots in Colorado, Arizona and Oregon.
Some Democrats criticize the group because they consider their effort a blatant effort to diminish President Joe Biden’s reelection chances. Other critics have called it outright grift, according to a Fox News report.
“No Labels is committed to fielding a candidate that will, intentionally or not, provide a crucial boost to Republicans – and a major obstacle to Biden,” think tank Third Way said in a statement. “As a result, they’ll make it far more likely—if not certain—that Donald Trump returns to the White House.”
Marianne Williamson is the only Democrat who has declared their candidacy for the party’s 2024 presidential nomination. President Joe Biden will run for reelection according to statements made by his wife, First Lady Jill Biden, and leading Democrats but he has not made an official announcement of his candidacy.
Republicans are piling into the GOP’s presidential primary that will challenge former President Donald Trump’s bid for another term in the Oval Office.
Third Way’s warning, which was first reported by Politico Tuesday, claimed third-party candidates have no chance of winning a general election. The think tank argued a credible third party candidate would get votes from people who otherwise would vote for President Biden.
The group pointed to former presidential candidates Jill Stein and Gary Johnson to bolster its claim that third party candidates who make it to the November election only help Republicans win.
“No one is entitled to votes,” Nader said about similar claims his candidacy was helping the Republicans win the White House. “We all have to earn our votes.”
Democrats are trotting out the same tired argument against a third party candidate.
“No Labels casts Biden and Trump as equally extreme and frames their ticket as an antidote to a rematch,” the think tank claimed. “But this is a smokescreen. Joe Biden has governed as a mainstream moderate, passing more bipartisan legislation than anyone dreamed possible.”
The No Labels party has not announced whom their presidential candidate would be or what the main policy positions would include. The group’s policy playbook includes policies that both Republicans and Democrats could support, according to the Fox report.
The report added that No Labels has scheduled a nominating convention for April 2024, months before the scheduled Republican and Democratic conventions.
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