Democratic fears grow over third-party candidates

Democrats have expressed concern about efforts to field a third-party candidate in 2024, amid fears of stealing votes from President Biden’s re-election.

With polls showing a likely rematch between Biden and former President Trump, the bipartisan group No Labels is offering a “unified ticket” to run as an alternative to Democrats and Republicans. We are working on building a foundation for issuing And progressive activist Cornell West became the first relatively high-profile third-party candidate to enter the race.

The development comes as polls show the American public is uneasy about the prospect of a Biden-Trump rematch. A NewsNation/DDHQ poll released this week found that 49% of respondents were likely to consider voting for a third-party candidate in 2024 if Trump and Biden were the nominees. Some or very high.

Meanwhile, an NBC News poll released last month found that 70% of Americans said they didn’t want Biden to run for president next year, and 60% said they didn’t want Trump to run for president in 2024. I answered.

“It’s almost universal,” said former Congressman Fred Upton (R, Michigan), who is involved in No Labels. “People are just saying, ‘350 million Americans, can’t we have another game?'”

Biden and Trump are each grappling with separate issues as they embark on the 2024 election cycle. Biden, 80, and Trump, 76, both face age questions — especially Biden, who will be 86 in a second term.

Meanwhile, Mr. Trump, who has deftly led the Republican primary, is facing indictment for the second time in three months. The Justice Department said Friday that President Trump had been charged with 37 counts related to his attempts to block the government’s recovery of the documents, as well as to the mishandling of records at Mar-a-Lago.

West has used his candidacy to directly address his frustrations with both candidates. The National Party’s West called Biden a “milk toast neoliberal” and Trump a “neo-fascist” in his inaugural video.

In an interview with Semaphore on Friday, West addressed Democrats’ concerns about third-party campaigns.

“If Democrats don’t want a third-party candidate like me, why not put poor workers at home and abroad at the center of their vision. Biden served four years as interim president,” said West. he told the media.

“The Democrats cannot have an interim president forever,” he added. “If neo-fascism is the only alternative to neoliberalism, it will be a disaster and sooner or later fascism will happen. We need to confront fascism with vision and passion. Anxiety and fear need to be re-told so that fascism can be undermined internally.”

West is unlikely to be elected president, but his candidacy, like past third-party candidatures, could influence the outcome of the election.

Cook Political Report Editor-in-Chief Amy Walter asked on Twitter after news of West’s candidacy whether his candidacy was more of a threat to Biden than Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s candidacy.

In an interview with Fox News Wednesday, veteran Republican pollster Kellyanne Conway said the answer to Walter’s question was “yes.”

“It’s very likely,” Conway told the network. “Amy Walter is on to something. I’ll tell you why. Even if you don’t become president, you, as a third-party spoiler candidate, can decide who will be president.” It is.”

Ross Perot and Ralph Nader are two of the most notable examples of third-party candidates seen as determinants of elections. In 1992, Perot won about 19 percent of the vote, but failed to win electoral votes. However, many Republicans were quick to denounce him as a spoiler. In 2000, after former President George W. Bush narrowly defeated former Vice President Al Gore, Mr. Nader was faced with allegations of spoiling. Green Party candidate Jill Stein has also come under suspicion that her candidacy helped elect Trump in 2016, even though she won only about 1 percent of the popular vote.

“For those of us who lived and worked at the time of the 2016 election, this is what most political PTSD is about,” said Antophan Seawright, a Democratic strategist and senior visiting fellow at the center-left think tank The Third Way. is causing,” he said.

“Because when you think about the third-party activity that took place in the 2016 election, it’s now clear to me that it literally played a key role in costing the candidacy of perhaps the most qualified man in history. Because you can see it,” he said. “And we know that as a result, a court of right-wing activists has changed the footsteps of this country forever.”

Groups such as the Third Way and the Lincoln Project, an organization that criticizes the state of the Republican Party under Trump, are strongly opposed to running third-party candidates. These groups specifically target “No Labels”.

“This is a definite spoiler and the risk is all on the Democrat side,” said Jim Kessler, executive vice president of policy at The Third Way. “It’s worth noting that while Democrats are concerned about a third-party bid for No Label, no Republican is concerned, at least no Republican who supports Trump or any other Republican candidate. All that concern is on the Democrat side.”

“Democrats rely far more on moderate and independent voters than Republicans in national elections,” he added.

according to third way memo No Label polling data released this week showed that “moderate independents” won 20% of the vote, compared with 28% for Biden and 33% for Trump.No labels responded with your own notesNo Label poll data also found that 18 percent of voters said they were “not sure” or “not sure” who to vote for.

No Labels cited polls that showed voters didn’t want a Trump-Biden rematch and argued that a third-party bid was viable. The group said its poll showed 59% of voters would consider a moderate independent candidate in 2024 if Trump and Biden were the nominees. . The group has voted in Arizona, Alaska, Colorado and Oregon.

The group has faced some backlash, most recently in Maine, where the secretary of state accused No Labels of misleading voters to participate in state polls. In a statement responding to a cancellation request from Maine election officials, No Labels said organizers had been given “very clear instructions” about asking voters to change party affiliations.

Despite the controversy, the group has prominent backers from both sides, including former Maryland Governor Larry Hogan (Republican) and civil rights leader Ben Chavis. , they both serve as national co-chairs. Former Senator Joe Lieberman (Iconicut) is the founding chairman of the group. Former Congressman Joe Cunningham (DS.C.) also expressed support for the group.

Senator Joe Manchin (D-VA), who has been associated with the group for 12 years, has often emerged as the candidate to lead the group’s uniting ticket. Manchin has not ruled out running for president in 2024.

However, the group has yet to announce its candidates, claiming that voting in all 50 states is a priority.

“What we’re looking at right now is the state ballots,” Upton said, expecting the number to be close to 10 by the end of June.

Upton believes the group’s goal of voting in all 50 states is “achievable,” but disputes the idea that a third-party bid would favor Trump.

“I was actually with President Bush the day he got the call from Ross Perot to run, and it was pretty depressing to say the least,” Upton said. rice field. “Unlike Perot, they really take it from both sides.”