(NewsNation) — Leaders of No Labels, a 14-year-old centrist organization designed to provide ballot alternatives to presidential candidates representing the Democratic and Republican parties, maintain that there was a concerted effort to stigmatize and destroy the group, which pulled back on efforts to get a candidate on ballots last spring.
The organization is pushing back in three federal courtrooms, attempting to bring discovery to light that “would expose efforts to get No Labels shut down,” the Washington Post reported. Documentation that has been unsealed in federal court details plans by opposition groups and Democratic strategists to keep the organization from moving forward with its plans.
No Labels ended its campaign to push a third candidate who would have, at the time, run against both President Joe Biden and now President-elect Donald Trump. According to a report on political news site Racket News, people within the organization say they were aware of organized efforts to oppose a No Labels presidential run.
The outlet, citing unsealed court documents, also shows that deep concern existed within certain Democratic camps about what a third-party candidate could do for the Democrats’ hopes of continuing to occupy the White House for another four years.
The report cites an email sent by political strategist Lucy Caldwell to the aide of billionaire donor Reid Hoffman, the co-founder of LinkedIn, in which No Labels is referred to as a “looming forest fire” that would be a “nuclear-grade threat” if it were able to nominate a candidate who became a legitimate political threat.
Caldwell also wrote that the main focus of the effort should be “brand destruction,” the Washington Post reported. However, she added that the opposition group needed to “throw up any and all roadblocks” to keep a potential No Labels candidate from getting enough signatures to appear on ballots.
Joe Manchin, the former Democratic U.S. Senator representing West Virginia, said he was approached by No Labels as a possible presidential candidate. Manchin, who is now an independent after leaving the Democratic Party following an announcement that he would not seek reelection, said he told the group he wasn’t interested in running as a spoiler candidate.
Manchin told The Hill recently that he has always lived by the political mantra that he belongs to the “American Party.” But with Democrats and Republicans running their respective business models, Machin said both are guilty of spewing hate and division that does not fix the country’s problems.
Manchin said he was “absolutely interested” in participating in the effort that would promote an alternative to the country’s two major political parties and to find someone he would partner with to work well as a team. He said such an option would be attractive to voters who insist they are tired of the divisiveness of American politics.
“I know there’s a need for a third party,” Manchin told The Hill.
However, Manchin — who said he has associated with No Labels since 2010 — added that a ticket representing the organization needed to get on 50 ballots.
“I said, ‘I’m not interested if we’re not serious about winning,’” Manchin said in the interview. “And you can’t be serious about winning unless you’re on 50 ballots.”
He added: “I don’t know what needs to be done here, but the only way you’re going to change the Democrat and Republican Party is to challenge them.”
In addition to Manchin, No Labels also approached former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican, and Republican former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan about considering a run for the White House. Both declined, the Post reported.
The Washington Post report also details efforts that were reportedly carried out by Democratic strategists to keep No Labels from picking up steam. The group’s decision to not promote a presidential candidate came in April — three months before Biden dropped out of the race in favor of Vice President Kamala Harris.
Yet, following an election cycle in which Trump won both the Electoral College and popular vote to earn a second term in the White House, Manchin and others who fall into the camp of independents said the country needs a persuasive third-party candidate who could change the current political climate.
“People are realizing that politics as usual is not working (and) that America needs a sane third party,” Andrew Yang, co-founder of the Forward Party, told NewsNation’s “CUOMO” after the election.