Mulvaney: Americans want a viable third party candidate, can No Labels find one?

The quasi-third party effort, known as No Labels, suffered a double blow last week when several big names who had emerged as possible leaders for the emerging presidential candidate declined to pursue the White House. .

The first is Republican former Maryland Governor Larry Hogan. The affable centrist seemed a perfect fit for the group’s self-proclaimed “unity ticket.” His moderate Republican brand won him his second term in Annapolis, and his second victory could only be considered a landslide of nearly 12 percentage points. For context, that year, Democratic candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives in Maryland received a whopping 65 percent of the vote.

Mr. Hogan’s no-holds-barred stance on abortion and guns, and his obvious ability to woo Democratic-leaning swing voters, made him a perfect fit, at least on paper, for the middling Unity Ticket.

But now he’s running for the Senate instead.

Another name most often associated with the no-label movement is Sen. Joe Manchin (D-Va.). Manchin is a regular on cable news and Sunday shows touting his unique compromise. And he hasn’t been shy about teasing his interest in ascending to the White House. But last week, he too questioned that.

Manchin probably wasn’t as viable as Hogan. His insistence on independence was sometimes seen as a puzzling contradiction. And unlike Hogan, he made enemies on both sides of the aisle. And while certainly more energetic than the White House incumbent, his age (he turns 77 this summer) is probably not all that different from the major party candidates.

Still, his name was well known, and he had the kind of national recognition that one could gain after decades in public office. Losing him was definitely another blow for No Labels.

None of this is to say that No Labels is off their game. There is one thing that still works in our favor. It’s a clear dissatisfaction among voters overall with the idea of ​​a rematch between Joe Biden and Donald Trump.

Say what you will about No Labels, but they are very good at polling, collecting and interpreting data. And the data they have will convince anyone that this is the perfect time for a third-party campaign.

But the problem No Labels faces is that its numbers only provide a general sense of voters, and elections are not general. They are very specific.

You don’t go to a voting booth and vote for the person you think is the best person in the world to be president. Go inside and choose from the names in front of you. The question really is, “Do you want Biden, do you want Trump, or…fill in the blank?”

And No Labels has no name. In fact, at this point, it’s hard to imagine putting your name next to the “unlabeled” line on your ballot and getting more than a protest vote.

Yes, there are other names that we think could be strong third-party candidates. At least in theory. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Oprah Winfrey may be reliable. However, after receiving several offers from various camps, neither side has shown any interest. Taylor Swift’s name has been mentioned once or twice. Among sitting politicians, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s (R-Ariz.) name appears occasionally, as does Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah). But then again, are those names the kind that will galvanize at least a third of the population to action?

Nikki Haley’s name has been mentioned in various media outlets. But the pro-life, neocon, former Tea Party governor and fiscal hawk is as much a compromise candidate as I am.

There is no shortage of failed or past-their-best former politicians who look at No Labels’ vast sums of money and start fantasizing about what the future holds. But those people are already out of the game, and there’s a reason for that.

There are things that have been there for a long time. You can’t beat something in a vacuum. And so far, No Labels has nothing.

Of course, that could change. No Labels has one thing in mind for sure. That means there are certainly areas across America that would like to see her third name on the ballot. (A viable third name. No offense intended to Cornel West or Robert F. Kendi Jr.)

But serious questions remain as to whether No Labels will be able to find the right people to channel its energies. Especially after last week.

mick mulvaney He is a former member of the South Carolina House of Representatives and a NewsNation contributor. Under President Donald Trump, he served as Director of the Office of Management and Budget, Acting Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and White House Chief of Staff.