Centrist No Labels group announces end of effort to field bipartisan 'unity ticket' in 2024 presidential race

For more than a year, the centrist political group No Labels has been working to field a moderate and bipartisan presidential "unity" ticket to provide another option for unenthusiastic voters not keen on voting for either President Joe Biden or former President Donald Trump.

That effort ended on Thursday, however, according to an announcement from the organization that it would not be fielding a presidential ticket during the 2024 cycle, Fox News reported.

That announcement came just days after the death of one of No Labels' co-founders, former Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-CT), who served for decades as a moderate Democrat, was the party's vice presidential nominee in 2000 and a presidential candidate in 2004, but ended his career by declaring himself an independent and disavowing the extreme partisanship of both major parties.

No presidential ticket this year from the No Labels group

"Today, No Labels is ending our effort to put forth a Unity ticket in the 2024 presidential election," the group announced in a Thursday news release.

"Americans remain more open to an independent presidential run, and hungrier for unifying national leadership, than ever before," the statement continued. "But No Labels has always said we would only offer our ballot line to a ticket if we could identify candidates with a credible path to winning the White House. No such candidates emerged, so the responsible course of action is for us to stand down."

The group vowed to continue to "build on the momentum we have gained over the last year" and highlighted the work it had done since 2010, particularly in Congress through the moderate and bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus that it "created to push back on the extremes in our politics and push forward solutions to America’s biggest problems. That work is more important now than ever."

"We will also remain engaged over the next year during what is likely to be the most divisive presidential election of our lives. We will promote dialogue around major policy challenges and call out both sides when they speak and act in bad faith," the group stated.

"Like many Americans, we are concerned that the division and strife gripping the country will reach a critical point after this election, regardless of who wins. Post-election, No Labels will be prepared to champion and defend the values and interests of America's commonsense majority," the statement added. "We will also bring our citizens and leaders together for a summit to discuss the path forward for our community and our nation. Suffice it to say that this movement is not done. In fact, it is just beginning."

Nobody wanted to be on the No Labels ticket

Per Fox News, the No Labels group had enjoyed some success in gaining ballot access for its prospective unity ticket in at least 21 states across the country, and that effort will reportedly continue.

Where the group failed, however, was in finding any candidates who would agree to be a part of that ticket, as every prominent politician they approached or recruited ultimately turned them down.

That includes moderates like Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Mitt Romney (R-UT), former governors like Chris Christie of New Jersey and Larry Hogan of Maryland, current governors like Brian Kemp of Georgia and Chris Sununu of New Hampshire, and even former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, among others.

The left is joyous over the demise of the No Labels presidential effort

Democrats had feared, perhaps justifiably, that an independent presidential run by a No Labels unity ticket would draw more votes away from President Biden than former President Trump and ultimately result in Trump winning re-election, and as such, the left had been ferociously attacking the group in recent months to discourage it from playing a spoiler role.

The thinly veiled glee of Democrats at the announced ending of the No Labels unity ticket effort was nearly palpable in a statement released by the progressive MoveOn organization, according to CBS News, as that group's executive director, Rahna Epting, said, "If the reports are true, millions of Americans are relieved that No Labels finally decided to do the right thing to keep Donald Trump out of the White House."

Shifting attention to the other remaining potential threat to Biden's goal of a second term, Epting added, "Now, it's time for Robert Kennedy Jr. to see the writing on the wall that no third-party has a path forward to winning the presidency. We must come together to defeat the biggest threat to our democracy and country: Donald Trump."