A centrist group named No Labels has indicated that they will offer American voters a third party candidate for the upcoming presidential election if Joe Biden and Donald Trump are the nominees of their respective parties.
And who might the No Labels candidate be?
A lot of eyes are on Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia.
Democrats concerned about a third-party candidate
Losing parties love to blame third party candidates for election defeats. The Republicans like to blame Ross Perot for President Bush’s 1992 defeat. Democrats like to blame Ralph Nader for Vice President Gore’s 2000 defeat. I’ve even heard Democrats blame Gary Johnson for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 defeat. And now the Democrats are fretting over the No Labels announcement, suggesting already that a third party could deliver the election to Donald Trump.
Maybe a centrist third party will siphon more votes away from Joe Biden than from Donald Trump. But blaming a third party candidate preemptively for a Biden loss is lazy and dismissive. Remember: No Labels will only run a third candidate if Joe Biden (and Donald Trump) are the nominees. Democrats don’t have to offer Biden as the nominee – so, they have some power over whether No Labels runs a third party. And I can appreciate that a major US party doesn’t want to cater to the whims of some random upstart unheard of entity, but No Labels is leaning into a stark fact that Democrats have been willfully ignoring for months: Democratic voters do not want Biden to be the Democratic nominee. No one was that enthusiastic about Biden in the first place. Biden was elected almost singularly to displace Trump from the White House. Now, Biden is eighty years old and clearly sundowning. Voters are ready for someone else and No Labels is prepared to offer someone else. The cards are on the table and the Democrats can do what they want with that information.
Joe Manchin as a third-party candidate
Would Joe Manchin head the No Labels ticket? The West Virginia senator appeared at the town hall in which No Labels announced their third party intentions, so naturally, his name is at the top of the list. But when asked, Manchin demurred.
“I’ve never been in any race I’ve ever spoiled. I’ve been in races to win. And if I get in the race, I’m going to win,” Manchin said. “With that being said, I haven’t made a decision.”
Manchin has been a controversial figure for years. Depending who you ask, Manchin is basically a Republican dressed up as a Democrat, eager to thwart the liberal legislative agenda. Or alternatively, Manchin is used as a scapegoat, a “revolving villain” (along with Kristin Sinema), for Democrats hoping to appear willing to enact a liberal agenda but in reality hoping only to maintain the status quo. Said another way, Democrats pretend Manchin is preventing the party from enacting a liberal agenda when it’s really just that the party doesn’t want to enact the liberal agenda.
Whatever is going on, Manchin is no stranger to controversy and seems very comfortable in the hot seat. Reasonable citizens have long been advocating for a viable third party and third party candidate. Joe Manchin is a lousy option but he may give Americans the format they’ve been professing to want.
Harrison Kass is the Senior Editor and opinion writer at 19FortyFive. An attorney, pilot, guitarist, and minor pro hockey player, Harrison joined the US Air Force as a Pilot Trainee but was medically discharged. Harrison holds a BA from Lake Forest College, a JD from the University of Oregon, and an MA from New York University. Harrison listens to Dokken.
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