Democratic Senator Joe Manchin, on Capitol Hill in October 2021. Andrew Harnik (AP)
Many are already calling it the Third Party, although No Labels presents itself as “a national movement of people who believe in America and in bringing our leaders together to solve our toughest problems.” In practice, the group is exploring a third policy avenue that could undermine President Joe Biden’s re-election bid. The presentation of this alternative to bipartisanship that seeks to reconcile the Red (Republican) and Blue (Democrat) took place this Monday in New Hampshire with the prominent intervention of rebellious Democratic Senator Joe Manchin, known for his opposition to some of the parties is known plans Biden’s star to please him.
If candidates like free verse Robert Kennedy Jr. are already belittling Biden’s strength in voting intentions – in May he received 20% support, compared to 37% for the president whose re-election vote is opposed by 70% of Americans – is the presence of Manchin in this unacronymous forum makes Democrats tremble even more with his ability to divert public attention. To this third path, which aims to raise $70 million to formulate a presidential candidacy representing the two parties, is added the existence of other candidates for the White House, such as the Green Party candidate, the activist and intellectual Cornel West, according to The nervousness in the Biden election campaign is increasing.
No Labels supports the launch of a new “Common Sense” platform on immigration, healthcare, gun control, the economy and other issues that it says are being ignored by what it considers to be ideological and increasingly extremist parties, quite the opposite: a reflection of the Polarization that Donald Trump has sown. Manchin, who has yet to say whether he will run for Senate re-election next year, is landing on familiar political territory: ambivalent, to the right of his party and close to more moderate Republicans. With good ties to the oil industry and beyond as chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, he forced Biden to back down on a major package of measures last summer, including many on climate change and a tax hike on the wealthy. Their pressure forced them to cut the maximum program, but the party leadership accepted this unquestioningly, as their Senate majority is the minimum: 51 seats compared to 49 Republicans. And because the senator is the Democratic bulwark in West Virginia, a state that voted massively for Trump in 2016 and 2020.
In his speech, Manchin argued that the parties had “retreated” to the “extreme” ends of the political spectrum. “We’re here to make sure the American people have a choice, and the choice is whether you can dissuade the political parties from their respective sides, they’ve gone too far to the right and too far to the left,” he said called. However, when asked about his ambitions as president, he replied that it would mean “putting the horse before the horse”. “I’m not here to run for president,” he said. “Basically, I’m trying to save the nation here. I’m more worried now than I’ve ever been in my life. I have three children and 10 grandchildren.
In addition to Manchin’s leading role, the mere existence of No Labels worries Democrats, as his leap into the political arena can only favor Donald Trump’s candidacy. Though the Democratic primary looks more predictable at first glance than the Republican’s crowded booth, many in the White House believe the third way could finally wipe out Biden’s chances in 2024 if this two-color candidacy comes to fruition. But the truth is it’s dissatisfaction with both party’s candidates — Trump is the subject of a similar rejection as Biden — that’s fueling speculation about the third party.
Biden’s age: 80 years; his glaring failings — he has twice confused the war in Ukraine with the war in Iraq — and a stuttering mandate of inflation, Republican pitfalls and Supreme Court setbacks — the latter in scuttling his plan for partial student debt forgiveness – You put the President in an awkward position. A well-known advocate for the role of unions, workers at logistics giant UPS, the country’s main delivery service, has asked the White House that Biden refrain from intervening in labor negotiations with the company following recent dialogue failures. At the fore is a possible massive strike (340,000 workers) that could be disruptive from July 31, but also Biden’s weakened role as the country’s key union leader.
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That Manchin not run for re-election in 2024 and cede his seat to the Republicans, or, even worse, that he accept No Labels’ hypothetical offer to integrate the electoral map — something he doesn’t think of in principle, but the he does not rule out that there are two negative scenarios for the blue establishment. “It is clear that most Americans are deeply frustrated by the growing divisions within our political parties and the toxic political rhetoric of our elected leaders,” Manchin said last week in the statement calling for the No Labels event in New Hampshire .
The intentions as well as the actual proponents of No Labels give rise to all sorts of theories; The group is registered as a non-profit organization that does not disclose the identity of its donors. This Sunday, No Labels co-chair Joe Lieberman stated that they will not run a candidate in 2024 if polls show it would help choose the Democratic or Republican presidential nominee. “We’re not doing this for fun,” he said in an interview on ABC. The group has dismissed criticism of its intentions to engage in the political process as undemocratic.
Since the beginning of the Biden presidency in January 2021, Manchin has fought everything, including child support, to lift the most disadvantaged families out of poverty, not to mention Biden’s ambitious green policies. He has only openly advocated one measure: relaxing the rules for issuing permits for fossil fuel exploitation (vital to West Virginia’s economy). Looking ahead to 2024, when he can theoretically get nothing in exchange for his vote, wayward Manchin could give Joe Biden a new, perhaps lasting, headache.
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