An Ugly Win

Winning ugly. A catchy way to describe an imperfect victory, but a victory eked out nonetheless. In sports, it’s considered okay to win ugly, and sometimes even seen as a growth exercise. And while political races can be the fiercest competition of all, winning ugly carries a different weight in Washington.

No Labels accuses the Democrat-RINO coalition of an ugly win

The 2024 presidential race forces us to ask: When a political party is so hell-bent on winning that they paint their opponents to be downright hideous, is it possible to shake hands after the whistle is blown?

Officials at No Labels, a nonpartisan organization with now-abandoned dreams of fielding a 2024 ‘unity ticket’ for the presidency, assert that Democrats and “Never Trump” Republicans embarked on a disinformation campaign to smear the organization’s good name. The anti-No Labels crusade was successful in dissuading any candidates from joining its ticket. But the cost, they say, will be our functioning democracy.

No Labels emerged in 2010 with the goal of fostering bipartisanship. The group was instrumental in the creation of the Problem Solvers Caucus in Congress in 2017 and the passage of significant cross-the-aisle legislation, including the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Noting public distaste for hyper-partisanship, No Labels began laying the groundwork for a third-party presidential candidate in 2022.

“In a broad sense, philosophically, I’ve always believed that in the greatest democracy in the world, there should be more than two choices,” said No Labels co-founder Mark McKinnon. “It’s just nuts to me that we only have Coke or Pepsi, you can’t have Mountain Dew or Red Bull.”

Experimenting with various candidates

In search of a “unity ticket,” No Labels considered adding flavors such as former Republican presidential candidates Chris Christie of New Jersey and Nikki Haley of South Carolina, Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, and independent Sen. Krysten Sinema of Arizona to the menu. Such names might not spark inspiration in the hearts of Americans, but they probably don’t ignite anger either. They are centrists who might “give a voice to the 98% of America” that isn’t radically aligned, said McKinnon.

Americans indicated quite the appetite for more presidential options in 2024 – No Labels CEO Nancy Jacobson wrote that 62% of Americans wanted a third choice – so it is somewhat surprising none of the more than 30 potential candidates approached by No Labels wanted to test their luck as an independent. Yet, No Labels argues that it is no shock at all when one understands what the organization is up against.

NBC News reported on a “secret battle to stop No Labels,” detailing the clash between No Labels and Third Way, a center-left think tank. The article revealed that Third Way led an all-star team – organizations both progressive in nature and of the ‘Republicans-against-Trump’ ilk, Democratic big-hitters like Bill Clinton, left-wing activists, even a No Labels mole who leaked information about donors and potential candidates – all to ensure No Labels could not successfully field a ticket.

Arguments against No Labels

Those who opposed the No Labels endeavor (or any other independent ticket, for that matter) argued that such candidates would simply act as spoilers, almost ensuring a second term for Donald Trump. They would do almost anything to avoid this reality.

“You’re not building a pro-Biden coalition; it’s an anti-Trump coalition,” said Sarah Longwell, a Republican strategist and publisher of the conservative website The Bulwark, who supported the anti-No Labels effort. “They absolutely would subtract people who, when push comes to shove, will vote for Joe Biden.”

This end had two distinct means. First, Third Way and its partners hoped to scare off potential candidates. Failing that, they would try to convince the voting public that No Labels was little more than a stalking horse for Trump. Their methods were questionable and far-reaching.

The Third Way Call – plotting the ugly win

In late 2023, Semafor obtained audio of an 80-minute call organized by Matt Bennett, co-founder of Third Way. Bennett met with officials from Move On, End Citizens United, Lincoln Project, and more organizations committed to guaranteeing a two-way race. The attendees discussed their plans to discourage donors from supporting No Labels and intimidate potential candidates out of running on their ticket.

“We should send the message: If you have one fingernail clipping of a skeleton in your closet, we will find it,” said one attendee of the meeting. “If you think you were vetted when you ran for governor, you’re insane, that was nothing. We are going to come at you with every gun we can possibly find.”

The thuggish tone of this conference call is a central component of No Labels’ complaint addressed to the Department of Justice, which asked the government to investigate the conspiracy on the grounds that it suppresses Americans’ voting rights. The DOJ paid little attention to the letter, but it details many of the other allegations against the anti-No Labels coalition.

Other tactics included attempts to hijack the No Labels website and add white nationalist imagery, plastering the CEO’s face on a billboard truck and driving it outside her home, claiming she stood for “MAGA HATE,” threatening staffers, filing dead-end lawsuits, and trying to instill fear that “if you get involved with” No Labels, as Bennett put it, “you’re really risking your entire reputation and legacy.”

A hypocritical message

Although No Labels did not expect to be welcomed with open arms into the race, Chief Strategist Ryan Clancy was surprised at just how ugly his opponents were willing to win, and he despised the hypocrisy of their message.

“We were surprised by their willingness to really just do or say anything to destroy us,” Clancy said in an interview with RCP. “From a Machiavellian perspective, maybe you can defend it. But don’t give me this that you’re the protectors of democracy when you’re willing to play with fire.”

The message: We are saving American democracy from Trump by ensuring no third-party candidate will be able to take votes away from President Biden. The fire: undermining democracy by taking it upon themselves to choose who Americans should have even the option of voting for.

It is not only in their successful attempt to foil No Labels’ ticket that anti-Trump crusaders have eschewed (small-D) democratic norms. Clancy points to the attempt to remove Trump from the ballot in Colorado, which the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled unconstitutional. They think, “If it’s going to hurt Trump, you can do it,” said Clancy.

The far left helping MAGA candidates?

Clancy tells the story of Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, a Pennsylvania Republican, to underline his point. Fitzpatrick is running for a fourth consecutive term in the House. The congressman has been dubbed a RINO (Republican in Name Only) by the MAGA crowd for standing up to Trump and working across party lines. Mark Houck, a Christian conservative who challenged Fitzpatrick in Tuesday’s Republican primary, was cheered on by the far-right for his arch-conservative positions on abortion and immigration. His campaign also happens to be supported by those on the far left.

A mailer disparaging Fitzpatrick for betraying Trump was funded by a progressive group, Clancy noted.

“If you win by absolutely destroying and denigrating and carpet bombing your opposition, then on the other side of that, how can you work with those people?” asked Clancy.

In other words, what happens after the dust settles and we realize just how ugly the win was?

This article was originally published by RealClearPolitics and made available via RealClearWire.