Former Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon was having a busy political retirement as a partner with the Dowd Bennett law firm 鈥� and hiking trails around the world 鈥� when he chose to immerse himself in the hornet鈥檚 nest that is presidential politics by becoming a key figure in a national group mulling whether to field a third-party presidential ticket.
鈥淚t deeply, deeply troubled me that we were in a situation where you had folks working against the public鈥檚 ability to get things on the ballot,鈥� Nixon said. 鈥淭hat has been vital. It鈥檚 a pillar of democracy.鈥�
Nixon, who is not being paid for his role with the group called No Labels, will help push back against primarily Democratic efforts to prevent a 鈥渦nity presidential ticket鈥� from making the ballot in certain states. While No Labels hasn鈥檛 committed to actually fielding a bipartisan presidential ticket, the prospect of a third candidate in next year鈥檚 election is raising alarms among some Democrats.
One of the biggest detractors of No Labels is also a highly visible Missouri political figure: former U.S. House Majority Leader and Democratic presidential candidate Richard Gephardt. Gephardt is part of a group known as Citizens to Save Our Republic that is fighting No Labels鈥� efforts. The group argues that propelling a third-party candidacy in a race that includes President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump could backfire.
鈥淥ur view is that in these difficult times, No Labels should not be doing this,鈥� Gephardt said.
A battle over the ballot
No Labels is an organization of largely centrist political figures who are pushing back against what they contend is extremism in both political parties.
Besides Nixon, prominent members of the group include former Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, former North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory and former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan. West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin spoke at a No Labels function recently, spurring speculation that he may be a part of a ticket with a Republican like former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman.
For Nixon, joining No Labels is not about distaste for Biden, but rather what he sees as an unfair effort to deprive a possible ticket from the ballot.
鈥淚 think the key to a successful democracy from elected officials is not the ability to agree, but to disagree,鈥� Nixon said. 鈥淎nd these days for a myriad of reasons 鈥� the hyper partisanship, the resources that attack people for taking positions 鈥� we鈥檙e not getting action from our government, especially in D.C., that reflects the needs and the issues of our country.鈥�
Arizona Democrats Nixon and other No Labels backers have said the group is not a political party, so it is not held to the same campaign finance rules as the Republican or Democratic parties.
And Hogan and others say the efforts to keep No Labels off the ballot are undemocratic and are depriving voters of another option next year.
鈥淓ven if you鈥檙e not in agreement with the mission of No Labels, you have to be in agreement with fundamental rights that people have,鈥� Hogan said at a town hall this week with Nixon. 鈥淲hen we鈥檙e talking about the hypocrisy of people talking out of both sides of their mouths and attacking a nonpartisan citizens group that鈥檚 just trying to unite people.鈥�
A 鈥榙angerous鈥� gambit
Gephardt stressed that he generally agrees with the concept of No Labels and that he usually wouldn鈥檛 be up in arms over a third party or independent candidacy.
But he said his group鈥檚 polling shows that a third ticket in a race with Biden and Trump could allow the former GOP chief executive to return to the White House. Gephardt said that鈥檚 unacceptable, especially after Trump falsely claimed he won the 2020 election and egged on what ended up being a violent insurrection in the U.S. Capitol.
鈥淒onald Trump is still maintaining that the election was stolen,鈥� Gephardt said. 鈥淥ur view is that in these difficult times, No Labels should not be doing this. Because all the polling that we鈥檙e able to see 鈥� and we commissioned our own poll nationally and in seven swing states, indicates that if the two candidates are Biden and Trump and No Labels goes ahead with this 鈥� that it will elect Donald Trump. The math is quite simple to understand.鈥�
Other polls, including one from Monmouth University, showed Biden still ahead of Trump if Manchin and Huntsman were running on an independent ticket. But Gephardt said if there is another option, people who detest both Biden and Trump will gravitate to what he sees as an 鈥渙ff-ramp.鈥�
鈥淎nd when people say to me: 鈥榃hy can鈥檛 the Democrats get Biden out of the race? Then we won鈥檛 do this.鈥� Well, I ran for president twice. Nobody asked me to run for president. And nobody told me I couldn鈥檛 run for president. That鈥檚 not the way this works. Anybody can run for anything,鈥� Gephardt said, referring to his unsuccessful 1988 and 2004 presidential campaigns. 鈥淏ut in this case, and it鈥檚 only about Trump, this is a dangerous, risky thing for them to do. And we鈥檙e hoping to be able to convince them not to do it.鈥�
While a unity ticket may be appealing to Republicans like Hogan who refuse to support Trump if he becomes the GOP nominee, it鈥檚 less clear how many Democrats would vote for it 鈥� especially in a possible Biden-Trump rematch. Most polls show Democratic voters universally opposed to Trump returning to the White House even if they are not enamored with Biden serving a second term.
鈥淭here's a lot of voters that don't like Joe Biden, and they don't like Donald Trump, and they don't want to be faced with that choice again,鈥� Gephardt said. 鈥淏ut I've learned a long time ago that in life, you sometimes don't get two good choices, or even one good choice. Sometimes you're faced with two choices you really don't like, but you have to make a choice.鈥�
Third-party candidates have poor track record
Americans have rarely provided significant support for presidential candidates who are not members of the two dominant political parties.
The most successful third-party bid happened in 1912 when former President Theodore Roosevelt ran on the Progressive Party ticket. While Roosevelt actually received more support than incumbent Republican President William Howard Taft, the split among Republicans effectively handed the election to Democrat Woodrow Wilson 鈥� the exact scenario that Gephardt and others are worried about.
No Labels has not committed to putting a presidential candidate forward. The organization has said it won鈥檛 go forward with a ticket if it doesn鈥檛 have a clear pathway to victory or if the Democratic and Republican candidates aren鈥檛 universally loathed among voters.
Nixon, though, said what he sees as corrosive political discourse could provide an opening to a presidential ticket that emphasizes dialogue and compromise.
鈥淚'm not saying that this is 鈥� 鈥榦h, my gosh, the worst time Americans ever had,鈥欌�� Nixon said. 鈥淏ut I do think politically we are extremely gummed up.鈥�
