Democrats are mounting a coordinated mission to kill a third-party presidential bid — and it’s coming soon to Capitol Hill. Officials from the progressive group MoveOn and centrist group Third Way are planning to brief Senate Democratic chiefs of staff on July 27, according to an invitation obtained by POLITICO. It’s part of an effort to educate Democrats about the risk that a third-party bid funded by the well-heeled group No Labels could pose to President Joe Biden — particularly if centrist Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) runs for president rather than reelection.

The alliance between the party’s leading centrists and prominent liberals to publicly squash a third-party effort demonstrates how seriously Democrats fear that a spoiler candidate could tip the election to Donald Trump or another Republican candidate. If next year’s presidential ballot is as close as 2016 or 2020 were, Democrats worry that Trump-weary voters could defect from Biden to an alternative candidate — and just a few thousand of those defections could be decisive in the Electoral College. Liz Cattaneo, a spokesperson for MoveOn, said that the group is “working with a broad range of Democratic organizations to stop No Labels from running a third-party presidential ticket.” She added that her organization is “committed to accountability for No Labels and to preventing right-wing extremists from winning back” the White House. No Labels is unbowed. Ryan Clancy, the group’s chief strategist, said that “it shouldn’t surprise anyone … that voters are more open to an independent than ever before. It’s why our polling shows an independent ticket has a viable path” to winning.

Manchin has argued that there’s little harm in his entertaining a third-party bid, and he’s refused to rule one out even as his colleagues try to talk him out of it. Both Democrats and Republicans are “being driven by business extremes” and catering to the “far right and far left,” he said in an interview on the topic last month. Briefing top Hill Democrats about No Labels is a clear move to get the party on the same page in opposition to the group’s work. And all these dynamics could make the difference between the Senate majority and minority come 2025: If Manchin runs for the White House instead of reelection in West Virginia, Democrats could end up losing both his Senate seat and the presidential race. A Manchin aide said that if his schedule permits, the senator’s chief of staff will attend the July 27 meeting. Manchin is the candidate most frequently mentioned as a potential recruit for No Labels, which is eyeing a budget as high as $70 million for its third-party initiative. But there’s also some private talk about former Maryland GOP Gov. Larry Hogan or even Independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona leading an alternative slate, though Hogan says he won’t run for president and Sinema generally stays away from such speculation.

Any of those three candidates on a presidential ballot could influence a close contest for the Electoral College next fall. Dritan Nesho, No Labels’ chief pollster, said that polling “shows an overwhelming opening for a third-party ticket before names are even announced and any campaign communicating the vision and issue positions is run.” Detractors counter that the group is wildly overstating its chances. “What we are trying to make clear to the people around No Labels, especially people thinking about running on their ticket, is that that is a preposterous pipe dream. And they can have an impact, but it isn’t by winning,” Bennett said. “They can have an impact by spoiling.”

Democrats are mounting a coordinated mission to kill a third-party presidential bid — and it’s coming soon to Capitol Hill. Officials from the progressive group MoveOn and centrist group Third Way are planning to brief Senate Democratic chiefs of staff on July 27, according to an invitation obtained by POLITICO. It’s part of an effort to educate Democrats about the risk that a third-party bid funded by the well-heeled group No Labels could pose to President Joe Biden — particularly if centrist Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) runs for president rather than reelection.

featureless wrote: Mon Jul 10, 2023 2:58 pm I wish Kennedy wasn't nuts. Sure wish I had someone to vote for.

CDFingers wrote: Mon Jul 10, 2023 4:41 pm Joe is in danger because old. God forbid they draft Newsom. We'd like to keep him.

CDFingers

highdesert wrote: Mon Jul 10, 2023 3:55 pm

featureless wrote: Mon Jul 10, 2023 2:58 pm I wish Kennedy wasn't nuts. Sure wish I had someone to vote for.

Yup, RFK, Jr is really nutty with extremist views on more than just vaccines. Watching Biden at Windsor Castle to meet with the King and he looks and moves like a tired old man. About 30:38 mins
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-JkulF-Bdk

If he backs out Harris and Newsom will battle to make the first announcement of their candidacy. Others on the Democratic side could be JD Pritzker of IL, Roy Cooper of NC, Gretchen Whitmer of MI and others. Each party has painted the other one as extremists and we only have two choices, there are no viable 3rd party candidates. We don't have to worry in blue CA, the Democratic nominee will get 54 electoral votes even if we don't check the president box.

featureless wrote: Mon Jul 10, 2023 5:02 pm

CDFingers wrote: Mon Jul 10, 2023 4:41 pm Joe is in danger because old. God forbid they draft Newsom. We'd like to keep him.

CDFingers

better here than the Whitehouse, I suppose.

The governor, expected to be a future White House contestant, touted the 2023-2024 budget for the fiscal year that began this month as a model of Democratic financial stewardship, noting it built reserves and closed a nearly $32 billion shortfall.

“We’ve proven a paradigm: You don’t have to be profligate to be progressive,” Newsom said.

TrueTexan wrote: Mon Jul 10, 2023 5:28 pm If TOS doesn't get the Repug nomination, he will run on a Turd party independent ticket. That also hangs on the chance he doesn't wind up behind bars on the Federal level. What happens if he gets the Repug nomination and is convicted of his charges?

An outside group with ties to the conservative Club for Growth has formed in an effort to stop former President Donald Trump from winning the nomination. The group, Win it Back PAC, filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission on Wednesday. A person familiar with the group said its aim is to target Trump, who maintains a substantial lead over his Republican primary rivals in early state and national polling. It is not clear how much money Win it Back PAC is planning to spend. The filing appears to show a link to the influential Club for Growth, which over the last year has come out aggressively against the former president. The outfit’s designated agent is the Club for Growth’s president, David McIntosh.

Win it Back PAC’s treasurer, Adam Rozansky, has the same role with the Club for Growth. A Club for Growth representative declined to comment. While some Club for Growth officials are involved with the new political action committee, the Club for Growth itself is not expected to attack Trump in the primary. McIntosh, a former member of Congress from Indiana, came out firmly against Trump earlier this year, telling reporters that “the party should be open to another candidate.” The organization did not invite Trump to a donor retreat it held in Palm Beach, Fla., this spring, though it did invite other candidates seeking the GOP nomination.

featureless wrote: Mon Jul 10, 2023 2:58 pm I wish Kennedy wasn't nuts. Sure wish I had someone to vote for.

CDFingers wrote: Tue Jul 11, 2023 1:12 pm Kennedy is a tabloid candidate. >ptui<

CDFingers

YankeeTarheel wrote: Tue Jul 11, 2023 1:35 pm

CDFingers wrote: Tue Jul 11, 2023 1:12 pm Kennedy is a tabloid candidate. >ptui<

CDFingers

He's a batshit crazy POS and his father and mother would be ashamed of him

sikacz wrote: Tue Jul 11, 2023 6:39 pm

YankeeTarheel wrote: Tue Jul 11, 2023 1:35 pm

CDFingers wrote: Tue Jul 11, 2023 1:12 pm Kennedy is a tabloid candidate. >ptui<

CDFingers

He's a batshit crazy POS and his father and mother would be ashamed of him

Voting for ruling families just goes against my principles even if they were not crazy. I simply can’t believe we are so limited on candidates. It’s either the same elite politicians running over and over or some elite families trying to continue a legacy.

Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. dished out wild COVID-19 conspiracy theories this week during a press event at an Upper East Side restaurant, claiming the bug was a genetically engineered bioweapon that may have been “ethnically targeted” to spare Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people.

Kennedy floated the idea during a question-and-answer portion of raucous booze and fart-filled dinner at Tony’s Di Napoli on East 63d Street. “COVID-19. There is an argument that it is ethnically targeted. COVID-19 attacks certain races disproportionately,” Kennedy said. “COVID-19 is targeted to attack Caucasians and black people. The people who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese.” “We don’t know whether it was deliberately targeted or not but there are papers out there that show the racial or ethnic differential and impact,” Kennedy hedged.

In between bites of linguini and clam sauce, Kennedy, 69, warned of more dire biological weapons in the pipeline with a “50% infection fatality rate” that would make COVID-19 “look like a walk in the park.” “We do know that the Chinese are spending hundreds of millions of dollars developing ethnic bioweapons and we are developing ethnic bioweapons,” he claimed. “They’re collecting Russian DNA. They’re collecting Chinese DNA so we can target people by race.”

Jewish organizations blasted Kennedy for his remarks.

Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. praised former President Trump on Friday, saying the leading GOP candidate is “probably the most successful debater in this country since Lincoln-Douglas.” Then-candidate Abraham Lincoln’s presidential debates with Sen. Stephen Douglas (D-Ill.) in 1858 are believed to have delivered Lincoln the presidency and been the first presidential debates.

“[Trump] has his own technique that people like, and it is like going to a prize fight and you need practice. And that usually happens during a primary, and asking [Biden] not to debate during the primary is like asking a prize fighter to practice for his big bout by sitting on the couch and eating Chick-fil-A,” he added. Biden’s team has shrugged off requests from Kennedy and other opponents to debate the president.