No Labels’ third-party path to the White House appears to have reached a dead end.
Despite having secured ballot access in several states, the organization announced on April 4 that it was abandoning its search for two candidates to fill out its presidential ticket.
FILE - No Labels leadership and guests from left, Dan Webb, National Co-Chair Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis, and founding Chairman and former Sen. Joe Lieberman, speak about the 2024 election at National Press Club, in Washington, Jan. 18, 2024. AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File
“No Labels has always said we would only offer our ballot line to a ticket if we could identify candidates with a credible path to winning the White House. No such candidates emerged, so the responsible course of action is for us to stand down,” the centrist group said in a statement.
No Labels officials talked for months about forming a Unity ticket with a Democrat and a Republican as an alternative to a Trump-Biden rematch. Names floated for the ticket included former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie—all Republicans—and West Virginia’s Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin.
The organization’s announcement follows a virtual meeting in March at which 800 delegates from every state decided that the party would move forward with entering the presidential race.
“They voted near-unanimously to continue our 2024 project and to move immediately to identify candidates to serve on the unity presidential ticket,” former Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings, No Labels’ national convention chair, said at the time.
The group established a Country Over Party committee to vet potential nominees. One member of that committee was former Connecticut senator and No Labels founding co-chair Joe Lieberman.
“Even though both major parties have settled on their presidential nominees, it’s clear the American people are still searching for another choice,” Lieberman said on March 14. But he added that if No Labels could not find two viable candidates, “then we simply will not offer our ballot line to anyone.”
Lieberman died on March 27, following complications from a fall, according to his family. He was 82.
—Jeff Louderback and Samantha Flom
The U.S. Supreme Court on a rainy day in Washington on April 2, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times
SUPREME COURT FACING HIGH-STAKES DECISIONS
The Supreme Court is facing mounting pressure as it takes on more politically charged cases ahead of the 2024 election.
Among those cases are two major appeals related to former President Donald Trump, the presumptive GOP nominee. And with his former advisers also fending off charges, there could be additional appeals.
“This is certainly a blockbuster year for the Court,” Heritage Foundation Vice President John Malcolm told The Epoch Times. “Several of the justices, most notably the Chief Justice, have been concerned about the public’s perception of the court’s ‘legitimacy,’ so it will be interesting to see how the justices respond, especially in an important election year.”
The Court has already ruled on one election-related matter. In March, the justices rejected an effort to strike President Trump from Colorado’s primary election ballot, which would have affected millions of his supporters.
The Court’s ruling, though unanimous, was criticized for its lack of clarity on how the 14th Amendment’s Disqualification Clause should be enforced. The response showed that no matter how united the justices are, they will continue to face heavy scrutiny—especially when it comes to Trump.
But the former president’s cases aren’t the only controversial matters before the Court. Others pertain to the powers of the administrative state, gun rights and regulations, and social media content moderation.
“These are cases that touch upon separation of powers and important constitutional rights, in addition to involving ‘hot button’ issues that will have a major impact on the law now and in the future,” Malcolm said.
With such contentious issues on the docket, the Court could be weighing how their rulings will impact public opinion in a high-stakes election year.
A May 2022 Quinnipiac poll found that most (63 percent) believed the Court was mainly motivated by politics. Only 32 percent said it was mainly motivated by the law.
Harvard Law Professor Laurence Tribe has held that justices do more damage in attempting to portray the Court as nonpartisan.
“That pretense—by Justice Stephen Breyer in his book and by Justice Amy Coney Barrett and some of the other justices on the speaking circuit—I think itself undermines the court’s legitimacy, because it so obviously displays a lack of candor on the part of the justices,” he told The Harvard Gazette.
But Carrie Severino, a former clerk for Justice Clarence Thomas, defended the Court. “The Court is still the most trusted branch of government, easily,” she told The Epoch Times.
Severino, who leads the Judicial Crisis Network, said the Court has always considered complex, high-pressure cases. “Never before, however, has the Court been subjected to the unyielding partisan attacks from the far-left that it faces today.”
—Sam Dorman and Samantha Flom
BOOKMARKS
The judge overseeing former President Donald Trump’s Georgia election case has denied his motion to dismiss charges under the First Amendment, The Epoch Times’ Catherine Yang reports. The news comes as U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon has likewise denied a motion to dismiss the former president’s classified documents case.
Former Trump prosecutor Nathan Wade has been accused of not paying child support and his ex-wife’s medical bills, The Epoch Times’ Jack Phillips reports. Wade resigned from his role on the Georgia election case last month to allow his former lover, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, to stay on the case.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) called House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) a “Democrat” on April 3, likening him to Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), The Epoch Times’ Naveen Athrappully reports. Her criticism follows her filing of a motion to oust Johnson from the speakership over his role in passing a trillion-dollar spending package.
Nebraska lawmakers have rejected a measure to change the state’s method of awarding Electoral College votes to a winner-take-all system, The Epoch Times’ Samantha Flom reports. The measure could have gifted former President Donald Trump an extra electoral vote this November.
Primary challengers to members of the House’s far-left “Squad” were among a slate of candidates endorsed by the Democratic Majority for Israel on April 3, The Epoch Times’ Jackson Richman reports. The group supports candidates for federal office whom they deem to be supportive of Israel.
While President Joe Biden has pledged to fund the reconstruction of Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge, it remains unknown where that money will come from, The Epoch Times’ Emel Akan reports. The president is set to visit the collapsed bridge on April 5.
An upcoming Mar-a-Lago fundraiser is set to yield $43 million in donations for former President Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, The Epoch Times’ Janice Hisle and Austin Alonzo report. The massive haul will dwarf the single-event record of $26 million that President Joe Biden set last week.
