If you’re thinking ‘none of the above’ for President, consider No Labels

High-level representatives from the nationwide group No Labels came to Tallahassee hoping to sell their political “insurance policy” to the Capital City Tiger Bay Club at its Tuesday luncheon.

While the 501(c)(4) organization has been around since 2009, No Labels rose to the public consciousness in a big way after announcing an effort to raise $70 million to get on the ballot in all 50 states with a “unity ticket.”

The Lincoln Project paints the group as a front for Donald Trump’s re-election efforts. News stories abound about how No Labels has no chance of winning and siphoning off a small number of votes could tilt the race in one candidate’s favor.

On the dais was a bipartisan quartet of No Labels operatives to explain the group’s plans and push back the framing of its motives: former Republican U.S. Rep. Tom Reed, a founder of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus; No Labels Co-founder and fundraiser for Bill Clinton’s first presidential run, Holly Page; No Labels Co-Chair and former Dallas Mayor Michael Rawlings; and Floridian and former Republican Party of Florida Chair and No Labels Co-Chair Al Cardenas.

For starters, panel members said No Labels is not a political party — and, if Republicans and Democrats get their act together, they may not even field a presidential candidate in 2024.

“We take our inspiration for the name from the military. There are certain missions where nothing else matters but the label of American,” said Page.. That’s what we’re talking about today. That is the point. No Labels is a unique organization. … We are here today, not because we’re geniuses in Washington who are trying to manipulate the system. We’re trying to give voice to Americans everywhere who do not see their values and their hopes … reflected in the current conversation.”

Rawlings puts it this way: “What happens if we get to a Presidential Election where nobody wants any candidates?

“The thought was, ‘let’s get on the ballot in 50 states and be prepared next spring to see what happens.’ If the parties present more commonsense solutions, we stand down. If they don’t, other people may stand up and ask us, ‘Can I use your ballot to run for office?’ That’s the simplest form. We’re not trying to do anything special. We’re not a party. We’re focused on the immediate, and problem solvers usually do that.”

No Labels has qualified for the 2024 ballot in four states — Arizona, Colorado, Oregon and Alaska — and is on track to total 20 states by the end of 2023, Rawlings said.

Although names like U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin and former Republican Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan have been floated, the No Labels group said potential candidates will be vetted by a to-be-named nominating committee and won’t be anointed until an April 2024 convention in Dallas.

Cardenas expanded on the insurance-for-unexpected-danger theme. “We don’t know if we’re going to break glass by April of next year. Things may look pretty good. People may drop out of running for office. New faces may surface. The rhetoric may be just what America is calling for and we’ll be cheering that on. And so we don’t know but, but yeah, we’ve got a pretty good plan if we need.”

While the group may sound like cockeyed optimists, their plans are based on extensive data collection and polling.

“With a three-way race, you only have to get 34% to win the actual electoral vote for that state. And when we’re looking at the numbers, I can tell you — if we do this, we are in it to win it,” Reed said.

“There are 28 states based on national polling and data analytics that we have access to and it’s independently confirmed by outside polls that are out there that show this discontent. The largest party in America essentially is unaffiliated independent voters. They’re not Democrats or Republicans. And so there is a path to victory with 280-plus electoral votes in those 28 states.”

Page is not best pleased by The Lincoln Project’s calumnies, calling the organization “profiteers of polarization,” in a back-and-forth commentary with Reed:

“Before they attacked No Labels, they were targeting every moderate Republican who is in a district that President (Joe) Biden carried. What is going to happen to this country if you chase out anybody reasonable in the Republican Party in the Congress that’s not acting in the best interest of our collective future? You have to ask yourself, ‘Why are they doing it?’ Ask them that.”

“We get the skepticism,” about No Labels, Reed said.

“You’d be crazy not to be and ask tough questions,” Page added.

Reed summed up with, “If you’re not going to change it, then just accept it. We’re trying to change it.”