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In the 2008 presidential election cycle, a group of relatively prominent political players hatched a provocative project called Unity08. The idea was to put together a bipartisan national ticket, which would compete alongside the major parties’ nominees. It failed spectacularly, in large part because no serious contenders for national office wanted anything to do with the initiative.
In the 2012 presidential election cycle, a different group of relatively prominent political players hatched an eerily similar project called Americans Elect, which had effectively the same goal. This time, however, the effort had tens of millions of dollars, and ambitions to compete in all 50 states. It, too, failed spectacularly.
More than a decade later, an entirely different group of political players came up with the exact same idea. The No Labels operation claimed to have a $70 million budget and ballot access in 19 states, including several battleground states that will likely dictate the outcome of the 2024 race.
If you’re wondering whether it would fail spectacularly, just as its forerunners did, wonder no more. NBC News reported:
No Labels, the bipartisan group that had been working toward putting a third-party presidential ticket on the ballot in all 50 states in 2024, announced Thursday that it was ending its efforts. “No Labels has always said we would only offer our ballot line to a ticket if we could identify candidates with a credible path to winning the White House,” No Labels CEO and co-founder Nancy Jacobson said in a statement. “No such candidates emerged, so the responsible course of action is for us to stand down.”
The operation failed for a variety of reasons. No Labels, for example, didn’t have a platform, and no one — inside the group or out — could explain what it intended to do in the event that it succeeded. It didn’t help when prominent officials within the operation resigned, and former Sen. Joe Lieberman — arguably No Labels’ most high-profile champion — died unexpectedly.
But most important is the fact that no one actually wanted to appear on the group’s 2024 ticket. NBC News recently reported:
Among the Republicans who have said no after approaches from the group: former Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels and New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, according to public statements and sources familiar with their responses. ... On the Democratic side, Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick declined No Labels’ entreaties, as did Democratic-turned-independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona. The group also engaged with former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
This is a partial list. Retired Navy Adm. William McRaven, businessman Mark Cuban, and even actor Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson heard from No Labels, asking about their possible interest. They declined, too.
Rumor had it that former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan — a fierce Republican critic of Donald Trump — was a leading contender to run as the No Labels nominee, but he ultimately joined the parade of would-be candidates to withdraw from consideration.
I don’t know how many more times this idea will have to fail before folks stop trying, but the three-strikes-and-you’re-out rule really ought to apply.