No labels, no candidate: the rejections pile up as time runs out
No Labels, the group that has been promising for months to secure a centrist presidential ticket in the event of a rematch between President Biden and former President Donald J. Trump, is running out of time to recruit a standard-bearer after a series of rejections.
With a number of prominent potential candidates saying no in recent months, some members and leaders of No Labels have become frustrated by the inability to send a ticket forward, according to two people involved with the group and notes provided to The New York Times are provided from a recent meeting. video meeting of No Labels delegates.
Still, the group’s leadership remains hopeful for November, even as the possibility of defeating both Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump outright appears increasingly remote. Its leaders have promoted a far-fetched scenario in which the group could play the role of power broker in the general election if none of the major parties’ candidates achieve an outright majority.
As the group charts a path forward, state ballot deadlines are approaching.
“To be credible, you want to be on the ballot in every state,” former Rep. Tom Davis of Virginia, co-founder of No Labels, said in an interview.
“Although,” he added, “you know Lincoln wasn’t on the ballot 10 statesand he won.”
Before putting together a ticket, Mr. Davis said, “April 15 is kind of a drop-dead date.” The April 15 deadline is important because independent candidates for president can then collect signatures to qualify for the ballot in New York state.
“If you want to vote in New York, that’s what drives you,” he added.
No Labels is currently on the ballot in 18 states, the group says. Last year it said it had already raised $60 million to put forward a so-called “unity ticket” with one Democrat and one Republican. In the fall, the group’s president, Nancy Jacobson, told potential donors and allies that she had committed to choosing a Republican as No Labels’ presidential candidate. No such person has come forward.
Mr. Davis was among those participating in a video conference Tuesday for some of the group’s delegates and leaders, during which Ms. Jacobson said several top picks for the group’s ticket were not interested, according to two people on the call.
These names included retired Admiral William H. McRaven, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and former Representative Will Hurd of Texas. Another potential recruit, former Georgia Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan, a Republican, had publicly withdrew his name from consideration on Monday.
Ms. Jacobson told delegates on the videoconference that she had not given up, but that the group’s leaders did not know if they could find a “gladiator” willing to take on the role, according to one of the people who took part. in the meeting.
Ms. Jacobson and a spokeswoman for No Labels did not respond to phone calls, texts or emails.
Several delegates at the video conference expressed disappointment and frustration that no candidate had taken the opportunity to get the ticket. Some tossed out more names for the group to consider: Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the independent presidential candidate; Nikki Haley, the former Republican presidential candidate; and David H. Petraeus, the retired general and former CIA director.
Mr. Kennedy did not respond to a request for comment. Ms. Haley, who dropped out of the Republican race earlier this month, has already ruled out a No Labels bid because, she said, she would not accept a Democratic running mate.
General Petraeus said Thursday that he was approached and said no.
Admiral McRaven, Mr. Hurd and Ms. Rice did not immediately return requests for comment.
Later in Tuesday’s videoconference, Mr. Davis led the group through a scenario in which a No Labels ticket could win several states in the general election, depriving Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump of the 270 Electoral College votes needed were to win.
Such an outcome would give cause a contingent election – a constitutional provision whereby the president is elected by the House of Representatives and the vice president by the Senate. Such a scenario has not occurred since the nineteenth century.
According to Mr Davis, representatives of a major party could choose the No Labels candidate over the other party’s candidate. In the interview, Mr. Davis said he discussed the issue on the call to address delegates’ concerns about the possibility. He also said that Mr. Biden provoked such a scenario by, according to Mr. Davis, framing his campaign merely as an attempt to stop Mr. Trump.
“It seems to me that Biden is more interested in stopping Trump than anything else,” Davis said. “Funny things happen. That’s all I can say.”
Any election would be a “stunning disaster,” said William Ewald, a constitutional law scholar at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School. “In an election in the current political climate, no matter who won, people would be rioting in the streets, and not figuratively.”
At Tuesday’s videoconference, Mr. Davis — once a fixture of the moderate Republican establishment who has been ostracized by the forces behind Mr. Trump — described how No Labels could intervene before the case even reached Congress.
In his scenario, would-be faithless voters from any number of states could trade their support for “policy concessions” brokered by No Labels.
On the videoconference and again during the interview, Mr. Davis cited the 1876 election and its aftermath as an example of how this year’s election could go if none of the major party candidates collected 270 electoral votes, or if voters refuse to support the elections. candidates in the electoral college.
In that election, after no clear winner emerged, an election board ultimately awarded the disputed votes to Rutherford B. Hayes, a Republican, in an arrangement made possible by the Compromise of 1877, in which the Republicans agreed to federal withdraw troops from the southern states. Reconstruction.
Third Way, a Democratic group that does that has repeatedly raised concerns on No Labels called the group’s flirting with such a plan a serious threat to democracy.
“It is impossible to overstate how chaotic and dangerous it would be if any party in this election were to deliberately attempt to organize contingent elections that would lead to massive confusion and perhaps political violence,” said Matt Bennett, co-founder of Third Way.
As recently as January, No Labels was still canvassing prominent current and former politicians, including Bill Haslam, a Republican and former governor of Tennessee; Jon Huntsman, a Republican and former governor of Utah; Larry Hogan, a Republican and former governor of Maryland; and Sen. Joe Manchin III, the conservative West Virginia Democrat who is not seeking re-election.
Mr. Haslam never considered accepting No Labels’ invitation, according to a person briefed on the discussion. In February, Mr. Hogan announced a plan to run for Maryland’s open Senate seat. A week later, Mr. Manchin ruled out running for president.