The much-hyped “unity ticket” floated by the centrist organization No Labels went up in smoke on Thursday as the organization announced it was unable to field a candidate.
Concern about the third-party run was especially pronounced among supporters of President Joe Biden. The president is already contending with independent presidential runs by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Cornel West, which some believe will siphon votes away from Biden in his rematch with former President Donald Trump.
No Labels, which spent tens of millions of dollars to gain ballot access in just 21 states, whiffed on recruiting several high-profile politicians, who ultimately wanted no part in the effort. The group’s director told Fox News that No Labels “was looking for a hero and a hero never emerged.”
Later in the day, Abby Phillip discussed the ill-fated effort on CNN NewsNight.
“Wow, what an ending to No Labels,” she said. “They were on the ballot in 21 states, actually. They said they spoke to 30 people about doing this thing. No one wanted to do it. How could this have happened?”
“All that money, millions of dollars,” noted Rina Shah. “To end so embarrassingly. And at the top of March, they convened 800 delegates virtually. They were going to do something, it felt like, and then they had a 12-person vetting committee. This thing always reeked of back dealing in a way.”
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“I don’t know,” replied Jay Michaelson of Rolling Stone. “You know you’re in trouble when The Rock said yes to live-action Moana but said no to running for president on the No Labels ticket.”
Watch above via CNN.