The coalition opposing the No Labels effort — which already includes Third Way, the progressive group MoveOn.org, the Democratic opposition research firm American Bridge and the anti-Trump Lincoln Project, made up of consultants Republicans—will be joined next week by a bipartisan coalition. headed by Richard A. Gephardt, a former House Democratic leader.
For No Labels’ most ardent opponents, the group’s high-profile rhetoric and appeals to centrism mask a secret agenda to return Republicans to the White House. They point to a number of No Labels donors, including Woody Hunt, senior chairman of the Hunt Companies, John Catsimatidis, head of Gristedes Foods, and Ted Kellner, a Milwaukee businessman, who have given generously to Republicans, including Mr. Trump, suggesting these donors know full well that No Labels’ main role now is to hurt Democrats.
The surveys carried out by an external company for Mr. Gephardt seemed to indicate that a candidate considered moderate, independent and bipartisan could not win the presidency, but would do great damage to Mr. Biden. In a national poll by the Prime Group, a Democratic-leaning messaging and public opinion research firm, Mr. Biden would beat Mr. Trump by about the same margin of the popular vote as he did in 2020. But if he were a third-party candidate centrist to enter. race, that candidate could take a much larger share of voters from Mr. Biden that of Mr. trump
The same group polled seven swing states (Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin) and found that Mr. Trump would win three of those states in a head-to-head matchup with Mr. Biden, Mr. Biden two. In two of the states, Mr. Biden and Mr. Trump would essentially tie, according to the poll.
Nancy Jacobson, founder of No Labels, said — as she has done before — that the effort should be considered an “insurance policy” for an American electorate dissatisfied with a possible Biden re-election -Trump of 2020. The “common sense” document is a catalyst to temper this dissatisfaction or channel it into a real political movement.
