Moderates Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman will headline a No Labels event Monday at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics, according to a report by the Daily Mail. Huntsman sought the GOP presidential nomination in 2012. Manchin has said he is willing to consider a third-party presidential bid in 2024.
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu’s name has also been mentioned as part of a possible No Labels ticket, though he told NHJournal last week it was not something he was considering.
According to the report, the attendees’ list also includes 2000 Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.), former GOP Gov. Pat McCrory (D-N.C.), and No Labels co-chair Dr. Benjamin Chavis, a former executive director of the NAACP.
“It is clear that most Americans are exceedingly frustrated by the growing divide in our political parties and toxic political rhetoric from our elected leaders,” Manchin said in a statement Wednesday. “Our political discourse is lacking engaged debates around common sense solutions to solve the pressing issues facing our nation. I am looking forward to modeling this type of conversation with my good friend, Gov. Huntsman, and the No Labels community. The things that unite Americans are much stronger than the things that divide us, and I am confident that will be evident throughout our discussion.”
Earlier this month, Manchin told Fox News he would not rule out a third-party presidential run.
“Not ruling anything in, not ruling anything out,” Manchin, 75, said.
And Puck reported a leaked conference call between Manchin and No Labels donors in which he said, “Let’s try to make people come back together for the sake of the country, not just for the sake of the party.”
No Labels had previously announced it would unveil its Common Sense platform for a possible 2024 presidential bid at the NHIOP event. However, the organization’s leaders have also insisted their effort is merely an “insurance policy” against the possibility of a Donald Trump vs. Joe Biden re-match in 2024.
“No Labels has made it clear that it will not offer a third option if there is no path to victory in the Electoral College,” No Labels co-founder David Walker wrote in a recent op-ed. “The decision to have a third-option ticket will not be made until the spring of 2024. No Labels has the ability to pull the plug on a third option several months before the election if the path to victory evaporates.”
And No Labels CEO Nancy Jacobson, a former Bill Clinton operative, told Jewish Insider that the group is holding its convention on April 14, 2024, when its candidate selection process would begin.
“After the Super Tuesday primaries in March, it should be pretty clear who the nominees of the two major parties will be,” Jacobson said. “That’s the key factor for us, then, to decide whether we want to use the ‘insurance policy’ and give the American people a third alternative.”
Monday’s No Labels event in New Hampshire will be a town hall at which they will present a “Common Sense agenda of 30 big ideas to tackle America’s greatest challenges through bipartisan problem-solving.” On the list of issues: Business taxes, budgets and spending, crime, education, inflation, and immigration reform.
Notably absent: Abortion.
The American left sees the No Labels movement as a danger to Biden’s re-election and a strategy likely to help Trump win the White House. Moveon.org is participating in a briefing of Senate Democrat staffers later this month, warning that the No Labels movement is dangerous to their party. And two-time Democratic presidential candidate and former Congressman Dick Gephardt (D-Mo.) is also helping launch a new group to oppose it.
No Labels supporters dismiss those concerns.
“Panicked Washington insiders in the Democratic Party who claim to oppose voter suppression are actively working to suppress the vote and to deny choice,” said former GOP Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan.
