(PatriotWise.com) — The third-party group No Labels announced last week that it would not field a presidential candidate in the 2024 election after strategists for the group failed to secure a high-profile moderate willing to challenge Biden and Trump in November, the Associated Press reported.
In an April 4 press release, the group reaffirmed that it would only offer a line on the ballot if it “could identify candidates with a credible path to winning the White House.” Since no candidate emerged, No Labels said the “responsible course of action” would be to “stand down.”
With No Labels sitting out 2024, that leaves Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as the only prominent third-party candidate to face the widely unpopular major party candidates in November.
Kennedy said that so far, he has collected enough signatures to qualify in five states, including the swing states of North Carolina and Nevada.
No Labels’ announcement comes just days after founding chairman Joe Lieberman’s death.
The group raised millions in hopes of capitalizing on widespread voter discontent over the possible Trump/Biden rematch.
No Labels’ announcement was welcome news to Democrats, who long feared that a centrist third-party ticket would divide the coalition of voters that helped Biden win the White House in 2020.
MoveOn executive director Rahna Epting, a longtime critic of the moderate third-party group, lauded No Labels for doing “the right thing to keep Donald Trump out of the White House.” Epting called on Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to also drop out, urging him to “see the writing on the wall.”
Kennedy campaign spokeswoman Stefanie Spear said No Labels’ failure to secure a candidate was a “testimony to the stranglehold” of the “corrupt” two-party system in the United States.
While Kennedy has so far qualified for only five state ballots, No Labels had already qualified to appear on 21 state ballots in November. However, the group was unable to persuade several big-name moderates, including outgoing Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) and former GOP candidate Nikki Haley, to run.
Copyright 2024, PatriotWise.com
