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Jonathan Cowan is president of Third Way, Rahna Epting is executive director of MoveOn and Patrick Gaspard is CEO of the Center for American Progress Action Fund.

As leaders of three groups that represent various segments of the Democratic Party coalition, we don’t always agree on policy or politics. But lately, we find ourselves strongly united on one alarming issue: the possibility of a well-financed third-party presidential campaign that could help elect a MAGA extremist president in 2024.

Our country is staring down a series of once-in-a-generation threats that strike at the heart of American democracy — corruption on our nation’s highest court, fundamental rights tested at the ballot box and, of course, the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/january-6-capitol-riot/" target="_blank" class="contextual_link">Jan. 6</a>, 2021, coup attempt. Yet instead of responding to these attacks with clear-eyed determination to protect our country, the organization known as <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/04/02/no-labels-third-party-election/" target=_blank>No Labels</a> is spearheading an effort to put a third-party ticket on the ballot in every state.

The group — founded in 2010 to combat rising political polarization — <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/01/opinion/third-presidential-candidate-2024.html?unlocked_article_code=SWGZKnUr5GkHgEjkotwcn4-Xrt_vzgDW2Kw-ITHCt8_8F71Boo12nrV7VHZyZNX_Hi9auCfSlyb2gKWYMML5EprvjSYnV2tkb66F0T7NypPL01kWlheVa9ywbxBMLpjPDQSu4YMgDVDFMm5SJSSSixeM81cMBuSvFwMr8y2j8OtrebJETLoaQwlbnyt2pZr4z9e_YQfGGdVZXQl0vmKBorwB3AuTZt-RxAeHBE9EFvd9YKfnExhdGV3-2TYO6An5WpC2LbzWXCJAHeC_fI6ZLuk421QpCE-1IhtzDNnAh_x0gcynQh9KsanwUbYOCjHWxE7rTaikfbpQfX4xRz2RjNuasQbPI-PaM5QW&smid=share-url" target=_blank>has said</a> it is raising at least $70 million for the effort and is planning a convention in Dallas for April 2024. No Labels has condemned Donald Trump and Joe Biden as equally extreme and claims that their likely nominations by the major parties require another choice.

Marc A. Thiessen: Swing voters are fine with the Trump charges. That’s a warning to the GOP.

We understand the sentiment that has driven donors to the No Labels banner. But there is simply no equating a party led by Biden to today’s MAGA Republican Party. One side believes in American democracy, while the other has attacked it. One is governing from the mainstream, while the other champions extremism. One seeks to work collaboratively on the issues; the other has given way to conspiracy theorists and cranks.

Moreover, No Labels has yet to say what <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/04/02/no-labels-third-party-election/" target=_blank>makes Biden</a> an “unacceptable” candidate. The group’s members say they value cross-party compromise — and Biden has shepherded into law major bipartisan legislation on infrastructure, domestic manufacturing, climate change, gun safety, protecting our troops and veterans, protecting same-sex and interracial marriage, election integrity, and more. No Labels says it wants leadership — and Biden has rallied the free world to respond to Russia’s barbaric aggression in Ukraine. It seeks mainstream values — and Biden is a man of abiding decency, faith and respect for the law. The contrast with someone like Trump hardly needs to be detailed.

Despite this glaring hole in its argument, No Labels is forging ahead. It claims to be in it to win it and has released a map purporting to show that its ticket could take nearly 40 states, including Biden’s home state of Delaware.

Such an outcome is sheer fantasy. No third-party candidate has ever come remotely close to winning, including Theodore Roosevelt, running on a Progressive Party ticket just four years after leaving office as an enormously popular Republican president. In fact, no third-party candidate has won a single electoral vote since 1968.

 E.J. Dionne Jr.: Why we’re still stuck in Trump’s world

Though it can’t win the race, No Labels can affect the outcome. In 2016, Trump won the battleground states of Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan. In 2020, his share of the vote in each actually <a href="https://www.thirdway.org/report/the-dangerous-illusion-of-a-presidential-third-party-in-2024" target=_blank>increased</a>, but he lost all three. The reason? Biden won the votes of those who had chosen Jill Stein, Gary Johnson or another also-ran in 2016 by a 30-point margin. Such voters have peeled away before, and, if given the choice, they could certainly do so again, especially if lured by a well-funded campaign.

No Labels insists that it doesn’t want to field a spoiler candidate. But spoiling is what third-party candidates do. In 2000, Ralph Nader won 97,000 votes in Florida, the decisive state Al Gore lost by just 537 votes. And Nader, Stein and Johnson swung the outcome of their races with tiny war chests. Between them, Stein and Johnson spent less than $16 million, and Nader spent a bit over $9 million. With $70 million or more, the No Labels candidate is nearly certain to outperform all three, increasing the odds of serving as a stalking horse for an extreme MAGA Republican.

Moreover, No Labels is obviously targeting blue states and Democratic voters. The organization’s map gives away the game: two-thirds of its electoral votes would come from Biden states. Republicans know it. As one GOP operative <a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/171394/no-labels-donors-video-pretends-joe-biden-doesnt-exist?utm_medium=social&amp;utm_campaign=EB_TNR&amp;utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1679947398" target="_blank">put it</a>, “If Trump is the nominee, the No Labels coalition certainly hurts the Democratic candidate on the ballot.” And Rich Lowry, editor of the conservative National Review, <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/04/06/manchin-dreaming-president-00090568" target="_blank">has written</a> in Politico that the No Labels candidate would be “most likely to help elect Trump.”

No Labels is offering an illusion, not a choice. At a time when our nation is being tested, this organization could help defeat a mainstream president and elect or reelect a radical and vindictive MAGA Republican. For the sake of our country, leaders across the political spectrum should call on No Labels to stand down.

Jonathan Cowan

Rahna Epting

Patrick Gaspard

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A No Labels third-party bid in 2024 is dangerous

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