President Joe Biden speaks to reporters after taking a pilates class followed by a spin class with First Lady Jill Biden and members of their family in South Lake Tahoe, Calif., on Aug. 23, 2023. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)
President Joe Biden is concerned that a third party challenge from No Labels in the 2024 presidential race could end up playing in the favor of the GOP nominee.
In an Oct. 1 interview with ProPublica, President Biden was asked about the involvement of former Democrat senator Joe Lieberman in pushing a potential third-party challenge for the 2024 presidential race via No Labels.
“He has a democratic right to do, there’s no reason not to do that,” President Biden responded. “Now, it’s going to help the other guy. And he knows. So ... that’s a political decision he’s making that I obviously think is a mistake.”
Mr. Lieberman is the founding chairman of No Labels, an organization that intends to set up the groundwork to run an alternative candidate for the 2024 presidential race if the election turns into a rematch between former President Donald Trump and President Biden. The organization’s leadership is composed of both Republicans and Democrats.
President Biden’s comments come as the presence of No Labels in the upcoming presidential race has been a cause of concern among Democrats.
In Arizona, more than 15,000 people have registered with No Labels, according to AZ Central. Although the number appears small, these voters can play a significant role in flipping the state in favor of a political candidate given that the last presidential election was won by a narrow margin.
In the 2020 race, then-former Vice President Biden won against President Trump by only 10,457 votes. More than 3.3 million votes were cast in Arizona in that election.
Out of the roughly 15,000 No Labels supporters in the state, 13,500 have registered with No Labels in Arizona’s two largest counties.
“If they have someone on the ballot who is designed to bring the country together, that clearly draws votes away from Joe Biden and does not draw votes away from Donald Trump,” Rodd McLeod, a Democratic strategist in Arizona, told the outlet.
The Arizona Democratic Party earlier filed a lawsuit seeking to stop No Labels from appearing on ballots in the state after Secretary of State Adrian Fontes granted official recognition to the organization in March.
Arizona Democrats argued that there were technical issues with No Labels’ signature-gathering process. However, a Maricopa County Superior Court judge ruled in August that No Labels can stay on the 2024 ballot.
According to No Labels, state officials are creating “barriers that limit our access to the ballot, often with fabricated and unprecedented roadblocks with little or no legal foundation.”
Such acts violate three constitutional rights of Americans: the First Amendment right to freedom of association, the 14th Amendment right to equal protection under the law, and the 14th Amendment right to due process, the group argues.
“No Labels welcomes robust debate on the many issues confronting our country. We understand that politics is often rough and tumble. However, the efforts to deny No Labels access to the ballot and harass its supporters are undemocratic, unconstitutional, immoral, and potentially illegal,” the group stated.
Spoiler in 2024?
Many names have popped up as possible candidates for No Labels in the 2024 cycle. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) is rumored to be a potential candidate. Mr. Manchin, a centrist Democrat, represents the Republican-leaning state of West Virginia and has yet to decide whether he will run for a third term in 2024 or join the presidential race.
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee chair, presides over a hearing on battery technology in Washington on Sept. 22, 2022. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
During a July 17 No Labels Common Sense Town Hall event, Mr. Manchin was the keynote speaker of the program.
When asked about his potential candidacy, he replied: “I’ve never been in any race I’ve ever spoiled. I’ve been in races to win, and if I get in a race, I’m going to win. With that being said, I haven’t made a decision.
“We’re here to make sure the American people have an option, and the option is can you move the political parties off their respective sides.”
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) hasn’t refuted the possibility of a No Labels presidential run. During an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press in September, Mr. Cassidy was asked whether he would run in the race if the election came to a matchup between President Biden and President Trump.
“If they (No Labels) came and spoke to me, I would speak to them back,” Mr. Cassidy replied.
Larry Hogan, the former Republican governor of Maryland and national co-chair of No Labels, is also open to a No Labels candidacy. “I’m hoping we don’t get to that point,” he said in an interview with CBS in early September.
“I have not closed the door to that. If I believe we can actually win the race, we have a strong ticket, that those two major candidates are weak, we might have to try to pull off something that’s never been done.”
Regarding accusations that No Labels would act as a spoiler in the 2024 presidential race, the organization dismisses such concerns.
It points out that a spoiler candidate is someone who has no shot at winning and attracts votes disproportionately from one of the two major parties.
“No Labels will NEVER nominate candidates like this because an independent Unity Ticket would, by definition, appeal to the vast middle of the country and draw votes from across the political spectrum,” the group states on its website.
No Labels has already secured ballot access in 10 U.S. States—Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Nevada, North Carolina, Oregon, South Dakota, and Utah.
