The tidbit passed with nary a whimper from most major establishment media news sources last week – they were singularly focused on a Russian dissident mysteriously dying (almost surely from being murdered) and chastising conservative host Tucker Carlson for recently
interviewing arch-fiend Vladimir Putin – namely, the fact that 76-year-old West Virginia “moderate” Democrat Joe Manchin announced he would not run for president this year.
I’m not sure how to describe the sound of air rapidly escaping from a balloon (whoosh?), but one could imagine there was a similar noise emanating from many a Donald Trump-hating loner at the moment Manchin made it (his not running, that is) official, but these folks probably also don’t care much for president senile Joe Biden, either, so there was anguish all around.
For months (years?), Manchin’s been floated as a possible third-party alternative to both Biden and Trump, the individual who supposedly could draw enough fence-sitters from the moderate/establishment/swamp-loving ends of both parties while causing self-labeled independents to join his cause with enthusiasm not unlike 1950’s era teen girls witnessing Elvis gyrating and swinging his hips during a concert for the first time.
Establishment Democrats all but shunned Manchin for his willingness to occasionally – and I mean occasionally – side with Republicans on Supreme Court nominees and small aspects of legislation, which was all it took to earn him permanent enmity from the left’s ruling elites. But Democrats also desperately needed his senate vote to maintain power in the upper chamber. So, the dynamic between them has been odd for quite a while.
Manchin’s “no” decision also threw a wrench into another group’s plans. In an article titled “No Labels pursuing other possible third-party candidates after Manchin decision”, Jack Birle reported at the Washington Examiner the other day:
“No Labels is still pursuing ‘several exceptional leaders’ for a potential presidential ticket after Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) announced he will not run for the White House.
“Manchin officially ruled out a presidential run last week during a speech from Morgantown, West Virginia, after being one of the most prominent names floated for a No Labels presidential ticket. No Labels national co-chair Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. told MSNBC’s This Weekend on Sunday that the group is still talking to ‘several exceptional leaders’ about a unity ticket but would not name names. ‘In the next couple of weeks or more, we will probably make an announcement whether or not we will give the ballot access to a unity ticket,’ Chavis said. ‘A unity ticket means a Republican and a Democrat. And we are talking to Republicans, Democrats, and independents.’...
“’We’re in a state of uncertainty in our nation. The only thing that’s certain right now is uncertainty,’ So I don’t think we should speculate on what’s going to happen because nobody really knows. What we do know is that the majority of the American people don’t want to see a repeat of 2020,’ Chavis said.”
Conservatives don’t want a 2020 repeat either.
Wait a second. Wasn’t the 2020 Democrat dynamic duo of Obama errand-boy senile Joe Biden and skin-tone-correct female cackling Kamala Harris already supposed to have been a “unity” ticket? It doesn’t take a stretch of the memory or imagination to recall Democrats and their establishment media pals gushing over the relatability of “ordinary Joe” Biden as the perfect leader to “restore the soul of the nation” and “heal the nation’s wounds” left festering from the four disastrous (to them) years of the awful, uncouth Donald Trump.
Trump, after all, was responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths during the COVID crisis (again, according to them), you know, because he actually questioned the decision-making qualifications of the federal health authorities while advocating, at practically every turn, for the reopening of schools and the economy despite the hysterics of the World Health Organization and every mask-wearing liberal from sea to shining sea.
Biden’s entire platform in 2020 was based on the concept of bringing people together, and he reiterated his promise at his inauguration, the meat of the vow lasting only a couple hours. As soon as he showed the bust of Caesar Chavez in the Oval Office, the good feelings evaporated!
Besides, if the only thing that’s certain is un-certainty, then there’s nothing to fear but fear itself. Or something like that. The more we have to listen to people like Ben Chavis drone on about how awful this November’s near-certain choice happens to be, the sooner we get to talk about Donald Trump’s (the certain Republican winner) versus Joe Biden’s (the de facto certain Democrat nominee) issue agenda, which should restore some confidence among the populace that at least one of the candidates stands for something other than substance-free airy character assassinations and hyperbole.
I’ve said it a lot lately, but at least one of the parties – we know which one – has engaged in a pretty standard primary process (minus the swamp-sponsored debates) to give folks plenty of time to assess the candidates and make their selections according to their preferences, and pretty much all but one of the challengers to the virtual-incumbent thus far have withdrawn and endorsed the clear winner.
The one lone holdout is simply carrying on her crusade because the establishment people who hate the frontrunner have gifted her with plenty of money to perpetuate the nothingness. It’ll be concluded soon enough and common sense will take over – and the only time pundits will mention Nikki Haley from then on is in the context of poring over Trump’s vice president. Other than that, Nikki can return to begging her big corporate benefactors for a job title and a fat salary.
Or, you say, Haley can move over to the “No Labels” camp and have an opportunity to see her name appear alongside Trump’s and Biden’s in most, if not all states in November. Nikki has repeatedly denied that she’s interested in a possible third-party run, pledging, time and again, her allegiance to the GOP in one breath while savaging the certain nominee of the party as being too old and too corrupted in the next. The recent dustup over Trump’s NATO comments and then the Alexei Navalny-thing have called into question not only her principles, but also her loyalty.
Here's thinking that Nikki is definitely pondering “No Labels”. Consider: one, her stay-in-the-race-no-matter-what stunt has all-but ruined her chances to come back in 2028, since the Republican base now can’t stand her (not that they ever could) and the MAGA forces have long memories for betrayal.
Two, even if there is a general amnesty from the Republican base for Haley going forward, she’s indelibly branded with the GOP establishment label, which also makes her unelectable in the Republican primary.
Three, if Haley ran on the “No Labels” ticket and lost, she could possibly position herself for a cushy job in either party after the election. She’s an accountant by profession, right? Gift her an assistant secretary’s position at one of the departments or deem her ambassador to Ecuador or something. She could keep her political career alive and have some semblance of job security.
Lastly, Haley can run on the “No Labels” ticket and keep campaigning for the rest of 2024, then retire as the most famous third-party candidate of all time – or potentially play the position into a 2028 “No Labels” run in addition. Nikki might not even have to better Ross Perot’s 1992 vote performance to assure herself of a line in a future history book. Haley’s ego would be satisfied! She’d never want for anything, either.
The days and weeks ahead will reveal what Haley does as she’s all-but mathematically eliminated from the Republican race. A second-place finish – out of two – on Saturday in South Carolina by thirty or forty points should do the trick.
But who else would “No Labels” be looking at to try and fill their ballot line? The powers-that-be loved Manchin because he was seen as a floater between the parties (which was a ruse, too), a Democrat who still won in a blood red state during the era of Donald Trump. Manchin said a while back that he wouldn’t run for reelection to his West Virginia senate seat, and the Democrats have practically conceded that it will go Republican this year.
The “No Labels” folks would need other politicians that are one, well-known and two, have almost a complete absence of solid principles that usually are found in candidates who identify as Republican or Democrat. Former Maryland governor Larry Hogan has been highlighted almost as often as Manchin, though Hogan’s repeatedly said he wouldn’t do it. There’s time to change his mind, but Hogan isn’t as famous as the West Virginian – and Larry’s dull as white bread and would require a massive PR campaign to bring up his name ID.
John McCain’s out. John Kasich could conceivably fill the space, since (I believe) he’s unemployed and his mindset matches the “No Labels” group, having taken the “No Labels Pledge”. But Kasich isn’t that well-known nationally, either, and it’s been years since he was visible for something other than endorsing Joe Biden at the 2020 Democrat convention.
Jeb Bush? The family would disown him politically, but secretly get their donors to spend lots of dough on it. Mitt Romney? Why not? Romney’s not running for reelection to his senate seat (and thus avoiding an embarrassing loss in the re-nominating process), and wishy-washy Democrats like his penchant for treachery to the GOP cause. But I doubt Mitt would do it, and he’s no spring-chicken himself (he’ll be 77 in a few weeks).
Of the current Democrats, only Sen. Kyrsten Sinema might be a good fit, though she’s technically not a Democrat any longer. The problem is she’s likely running for reelection to her senate seat in Arizona as an independent, which would preclude a “No Labels” presidential run.
Frustrated Washington DC swamp establishmentarians will probably have to go on griping and moaning over the almost certain rematch between Donald Trump and senile Joe Biden this year. “No Labels” would have next to zero chance of running a candidate and have him or her win anyway, but wishy-washy people need hope too, don’t they? “No Labels” equates to “No winners”.
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