New Labels Selection Process Offer Slim Hope to Haley Diehards
But Even More Hope for Disenchanted Conservatives
No has announced its selection process for selecting a Presidential nominee and I've never been more optimistic that this is actually going to happen.
Key points:
1) The No Labels "Country Over Party" committee will get feedback from the community and choose a ticket of one presidential candidate and one vice-presidential candidate.
2) The No Labels Delegate will vote on the ticket Yay or Nay.
3) If the Ticket is approved, No Labels' job is done and the candidate runs their campaign.
Now one key point for supporters of former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley is that No Labels didn't mention that the nominees would have to have one Democrat and one Republican. Haley's big objection to No Labels is that would have required her to have a Democratic running mate. So that objection is no longer in play, at least based on the announcement.
Of course, one can't read too much into this. No Labels’ ideal of getting a Republican and a Democrat to run may just not be doable this cycle as Democratic officeholders who come close to being Presidential timber don't want to alienate their party bases. Probably the only recently active Democrats who might fit the bill are Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME) and former Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards (D-LA) . And you just can't build a process that can be blown up if one of two people doesn't participate.
I think we're looking at a unity ticket that features two Republicans on it if we get one. So you might have a more traditional conservative like Former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo) or Haley at the top of the ticket and at the bottom you might a more moderate candidate like Former Governor Jon Huntsman (R-UT) or Former Rep. Will Hurd (R-TX) or vice versa.
There's also the question of whether Haley could fit the bill for enough No Labels supporters even if she were interested. In addition, there's the whole question of "Sore Loser laws" which forbid candidates from appearing on the general election ballot if they ran in the primaries could pose a problem. This could also harm potential candidates like former Governors Governor Chris Christie (R-NJ) and Asa Hutchinson (R-AR) who dropped out before voting started but appeared on a large number of state ballots anyway. The new campaign could choose to fight the Sore Loser laws in court or elect some sort of alternate arrangement.
No Labels has left themselves out if they can't come to a consensus or find a candidate, which is sadly possible. No Labels needs to be sure of its ground because this is a one-shot deal. They're not going to get a second chance if they put up a ticket that's a bust. However, that's a good reason to do it in 2024 given the widespread distaste for the top two tickets. If not now, when?
I think that they've carried it this far is indicative that they have at least some hope that they can get to that ticket, and I'm definitely pulling for them.