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🇺🇸 What is No Labels?

🇺🇸 What is No Labels?

Plus, this city just shattered a heat record that has stood for almost 50 years…

July 20, 2023

Good morning, and happy Thursday. A real life Cast Away story closed with a happy ending. An Australian sailor returned home after three months lost at sea with his dog. What’s the first thing he wants to eat back on land?

Plus, this city just shattered a heat record that has stood for almost 50 years…

Also, if and when you’re in the market for a financial advisor, today’s partner can help.

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SCOTUS Ethics, In-N-Out Masks, Wagner Troops Won’t Go Back

US: US Senate Democrats pursue Supreme Court ethics legislation (Reuters)

US: Second IRS whistleblower goes public at House Oversight hearing about Hunter Biden probe (CNN)

US: Stanford University president Marc Tessier-Lavigne announces his resignation after flaws were found in his research (NBC News)

US: Judge denies Trump’s request for new trial in E. Jean Carroll case (The Hill)

Business: In-N-Out bans mask-wearing for employees in some states (CNN)

World: China says it will work with the US on climate change as long as political conditions are met (AP)

World: Wagner troops won’t go back to fight in Ukraine, Prigozhin says (POLITICO)

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2024

What is No Labels?

At a town hall event hosted by No Labels, Senator Joe Manchin provided little insight into his plans for a speculated 2024 run. He emphasized the importance of bipartisanship and working across party lines to address the country's challenges without offering any indication of a presidential bid.

Reporting from the Left: Arizona Sen. Kelly 'concerned' about No Labels third-party group CNN

Reporting from the Right: Liberal media panics over potential No Labels third-party ticket: 'Democracy-ending' Hanna Panreck, Fox News

From The Flag: No Labels is an organization looking to promote a centrist political agenda and get ballot access as a third party across the country. Here’s what both sides are saying about the group’s growing presence.

LEFT-LEANING SENTIMENT

No Labels Has No Substance

The centrist group is pulling off a reverse Goldilocks — serving up something in between the other options that nobody wants.
No Labels’ policies offer no real substance or actions that could be taken beyond talking about moving past partisan squabbles.
Manchin’s attendance at No Labels’ is worrying Democrats about a third-party run that could hand the White House to Donald Trump.

No Labels' third-party ambitions for 2024 are unserious. Zeeshan Aleem, MSNBC Opinion: “...On Monday the group’s co-chair, former governor of North Carolina Pat McCrory, said the group sees running candidates as an ‘insurance policy’ against the very prospect of a Biden-Trump rematch. …The insurance policy claim rests on the assumption that a Biden-Trump rematch represents an emergency-level disenfranchisement of real America, where everybody really prefers a candidate who falls somewhere between the two. That would be a strange way to respond to the results of a primary system which, by definition, allows millions of people to express their preferences, including voting for candidates that skew more or less moderate in both parties. The counterargument is that the primary system presents few options and favors party activists. Which: fair. But in order for the No Labels insurance policy to get traction, it would require the existence of a silent centrist majority that is itching for a ticket that tries to stand squarely between Democrats and Republicans. There is no evidence that such a majority exists.”

No Labels is selling 'common sense' politics. Don't buy it. Paul Waldman, Washington Post Opinion: “So it is with the centrist group No Labels, which has been threatening to mount a presidential bid… Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.), scourge of his party [joined] No Labels for a ‘Common Sense’ town hall this week, planned in timing and location — New Hampshire, site of the first presidential primary — to garner maximum news coverage. If the title wasn’t enough to convince you of all the common sense to come, everyone involved is saying the phrase again and again. … Yet it’s almost impossible to discern what this ‘common sense’ consists of. The ‘Our Ideas’ section of the No Labels website contains no actual ideas. This is characteristic of almost all such centrist, nonpartisan efforts: They talk a lot about getting past the partisan squabbling in Washington to find real solutions, but it’s hard to pin them down on what they want to do.”

One more opinion piece from the Left: Manchin’s New Hampshire trip will leave Democrats shivering Stephen Collinson, CNN

RIGHT-LEANING SENTIMENT

No Labels Offers No Value as a Third Party

Manchin made a few statements during the town hall that may have Democrats worried that he’s gearing up for a third-party run.
A third-party run by No Labels would give Trump the presidency without improving the debate.
No Labels doesn’t seem to be inspiring a large amount of excitement or interest in its efforts, showing that its existence is inessential.

Three things Manchin said at No Labels town hall that could worry Democrats Jack Birle, Washington Examiner: “While speaking on CNN's The Source with Kaitlan Collins after the town hall, the West Virginia Democrat [Manchin] pushed back on the leader of the Democratic Party, President Joe Biden, as being pushed to the extreme left. … Manchin would not say if he would seek another term in the Senate in 2024 when asked after the town hall event. … Manchin also discussed how both political parties have gone too far left or right, whereas the West Virginia Democrat proclaimed himself as being ‘extremely independent.’ The West Virginia Democrat was asked directly at the town hall if he was considering a presidential run, to which he replied that he had not ‘ made a decision.’ Manchin also responded to critics of No Labels' talks of running a third-party candidate by saying he isn't running if he doesn't think he can win. … Manchin reiterated that he will decide at the end of the year if he will run in 2024 for his Senate seat or the presidency.”

No Labels Will Make the 2024 Election Even Worse William A. Galston, Wall Street Journal: “What would the effect of a No Labels ticket be on the prospects of the major-party presidential nominees? And would its proposals change the campaign debate? Polls taken thus far point in the same direction: The net effect of a bipartisan ticket would be to weaken Joe Biden’s prospects against Donald Trump. The most recent poll, conducted by the Prime Group, offers details about how this would work. In a two-way race, Mr. Biden would beat Mr. Trump in the popular vote 52% to 48%. But in a three-way race, Mr. Trump would receive 40% of the vote to Mr. Biden’s 39%, giving the former president a majority in the Electoral College. Put simply, the Prime Group found that about two-thirds of the support for the independent bipartisan ticket would come from voters who would otherwise support Mr. Biden. This makes sense given that 36% of Democrats identify themselves as moderate, compared with 22% of Republicans.”

One more opinion piece from the Right: No Labels Has No Solutions Andrew Cline, National Review

FLAG THIS

Biden’s Third-Party Threat

No Labels has said that they plan to run a moderate ticket in 2024 featuring one Republican and one Democrat.

Early polling suggests that such a ticket would pull more support from President Biden than former President Donald Trump in a potential rematch (FiveThirtyEight).

FLAG FINDS

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WATERCOOLER

Mankind’s Giant Leap, Ecotherapy, Jet Li’s IP

Astronaut Neil Armstrong stepping onto the moon.

On This Day in 1969: At 10:56 PM EDT, American astronaut Neil Armstrong, 240,000 miles from Earth, speaks these words to more than a billion people listening at home: “That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.”

BBC: Who was the real Robert Oppenheimer?

Quartz: The Japanese Art Principle Teaching How to Work With Failure

Elle: What If Therapy Could Be a Walk in the Woods?

Today I learned Jet Li turned down a role in The Matrix Reloaded because Hollywood producers wanted to record and copy all of his martial arts moves into a digital library, with all IP rights owned by them.

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