Our effort is the only way to force our two major political parties to the center to address the problems that concern Americans most. It’s hard to overstate just how broken our politics are today. Washington is 100 days into a new Congress that is the least productive in at least 70 years. We’re months from a potential debt ceiling catastrophe, and the president and House speaker are not talking, let alone negotiating.
The American people could not be clearer about their frustration. They are leaving both political parties in droves, with a near record 49 percent identifying as independents. They’ve lost hope in the most fundamental American promise: that tomorrow can be better than today.
The most influential voices in our politics peddle fear and sow discord. And they’re attacking our 2024 effort because we give voters something our broken political establishment refuses to give: more choices.
As divided as Washington is, the American people are united on our country’s defining issues. Last December, No Labels polled more than 26,000 registered voters to understand their priorities and desired solutions. Neither party — or their leading 2024 presidential nominees — is offering solutions. That’s why the likely 2024 presidential nominees for both parties are rejected by nearly two-thirds of Americans. It’s why 59 percent of registered voters said they’d be open to voting for a moderate independent ticket if faced with the choice of former president Donald Trump and President Biden in 2024.
The partisans don’t want there to be other voices or choices. They’re filing baseless lawsuits to kick No Labels off the ballot. They sow fear with spurious charges that No Labels is destined to spoil the election in Mr. Trump’s favor. But the last independent who appealed to the middle — which a No Labels ticket would — was H. Ross Perot in 1992, and he drew equally from Democratic and Republican voters.
If the party establishments are fearful of a No Labels presidential ticket, they could offer candidates and platforms catering to the needs of the majority rather than the wants of the angriest and most extreme voices on their own side. If they do that, the need for a No Labels ticket dissolves. We’ll stand down and double down on the great work we’ve done building bipartisan bridges in Congress for the past decade.
No Labels will not be intimidated or deterred. The nation’s long-ignored majority is finding its voice and is here to stay.
Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., Washington
The writer is co-chair of No Labels and chief executive of the National Newspaper Publishers Association.
Joe Lieberman, Washington
The writer is co-chair of No Labels and a former U.S. senator who represented Connecticut from 1989 to 2013.
