
The third-party No Labels group insisted it is not out of this year’s race for the White House and will move forward with a presidential candidate. Could recent Republican dropout Nikki Haley be the answer to the centrist organization’s search?
Haley disingenuously insisted that she is not “anti-Trump” even as she refused to honor her pledge to the RNC and back the party’s nominee. She may be the solution to the No Labels quest for a viable candidate.
Nikki Haley Rules Out ‘No Labels’ Run, Insists She’s Not ’Anti-Trump’https://t.co/eD7kDaeT8n
— Larry Elder (@larryelder) March 3, 2024
Haley of course denied this possibility. In the aftermath of her crushing Super Tuesday defeat, she told Fox News that she is a lifelong “conservative Republican” and “that’s who I’ve always been.”
The former South Carolina governor threw cold water on speculation that her White House bid was far from over. Haley claimed she was uninterested in a No Labels or independent run for the Oval Office.
But ego and remaining in the spotlight does funny things to politicians. Once the mainstream media cameras turn away from a failed candidate, there is often a clear need to step back into the public eye.
And for Haley at the moment, that is a relatively easy path.
No Labels has courted several who could be considered as contenders, but all chose not to join the race. But the group is holding a virtual meeting and planning to launch the 2024 push for the White House anyway.
The selection process for the top of the ticket begins next week, even as President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump are almost certainly their party’s nominees for November.
With its centrist platform, No Labels strategists stress they seek a presidential nominee from one of the major parties with a vice presidential nominee from the other. One of its former targets, retiring Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), warned the group of its possible role.
Last week, Manchin cautioned that No Labels could ultimately become a spoiler for this year’s election.
Of which candidate in particular he did not say, but Democrats are nervous about anyone who could siphon votes away from their deeply unpopular leader. Biden already must contend with independent Robert F. Kennedy, r., who many experts believe will hurt the incumbent’s chances.