United States – No Labels, a centrist group, is reportedly to announce on Friday that it is ready to run for the presidential race in November’s U.S. election, as per two sources with knowledge of the situation.
Friday represents the biggest moment for the centrist group to manifest its shift from a sellout and cheerleaders for Washington bipartisanship to a party looking forward to deploying most of America’s frustrations with the probable nominees of the two major parties in the country, as reported by Reuters.
Presidential Race Landscape Narrows
The presidential race narrowed this week, a series of primary contests taking place in 15 states, and two candidates dropped out from contention, as the former and current governors, Republican Nikki Haley and Democrat Dean Phillips. Democratic President Joe Biden will be outlining what he would do differently if reelected in his State of the Union address tomorrow to highlight the differences between the republican contestant, former President Donald Trump.
No Labels Maintains Secrecy on Presidential Picks
Instead, on Friday, when about 800 delegates will meet online during the closed conference that is open only for those willing to give financial support, No Labels won’t yet name its presidential and vice-presidential picks. On the other hand, the team is expected to announce next week an organized selection system for possible candidates to be screened in the coming weeks, according to sources in the know.
No Labels declined to provide comments when repeatedly sought by the media.
At first, the convention planned to be held in March, which was dedicated to candidate presentations, and delegates were supposed to vote for them on the ticket. The plan fell apart after leaders among the party started asking questions over the cost and whether a candidate is ready to be the sole who will be the subject of public humiliation if defeated, according to multiple interviews with party officials.
In the past few months, No Labels employees have interviewed a wide range of potential delegates to eliminate those who could’ve been saboteurs who are also Biden or Trump supporters. Their main job was to check that they would not go against their objectives. The push here actually reveals how the organization is walking on a tightrope and is determined to become a non-institutionalized, grassroots movement, yet at the same time, having the leaders achieve some control.
Democratic Skepticism
Those who had a hard talk with No Labels representatives declared that the group would move forward only if it believed that the path to victory was there and wouldn’t act as a “spoiler.” Nonetheless, the stinging feedback from Democrats probably expressed that this party stood no chance to win and only gave additional points to Trump.
“(No Labels’) nomination is a path only to embarrassing defeat that could serve as a spoiler that returns Trump to power,” said Matt Bennett, co-founder of Third Way, a center-left think tank, as reported by Reuters.
Among other things, American Bridge, the Democratic Party’s main opposition research group, hired renowned election lawyer Marc Elias in January to assist in sabotaging these outsider aspirations.
