Nominating Myself for President

No Labels -- Am I the Contingent Candidate You Seek?

No Labels is poised to choose, in mid April, a “unity presidential ticket”. By this they mean having the candidate for President and the candidate for Vice President come from different parties.

But most voters will view the party of the No Labels’ presidential candidate as the party of No Labels. As our universally revered 32nd Vice President, John Garner, declared, “the Vice-Presidency is not worth a bucket of warm spit.” Hence, No Labels needs to choose independent candidates for both positions in order to achieve its objective.

Senator Joe Manchin, age 76, has, of late, declared himself, well sort of declared himself, an independent — apparently to curry No Labels’ favor. Senator Manchin is among Americas’ most unpopular Senators. But, he’s ready to run, presumably based on being younger than Biden (age 81) and Trump (age 77) and arguably an epsilon less unpopular.

The only way Manchin or anyone else, including RFK Jr., can run is to get on the ballot. That’s a long, arduous, and expensive process. No Labels appears to be (the organization is highly opaque) on a handful of state ballots — but with enough electoral votes for their candidate to win the Presidency in a three-way race.

Senator Manchin’s only hope of beating his elders to the Oval Office is securing No Labels’ crown. But Manchin has been a democrat his entire political career. Yes, he’s a young whipper snapper, full of vim and vigor. And yes, he’s just what his doctor ordered. But if he’s No Labels’ choice, he’ll surely split the Democrats and hand the election to Donald Trump.

Donald Trump is far too great a menace for No Labels to form the wrong ticket. Trump has betrayed our country, our allies, our democracy, our military, our veterans, his party, his family, his former administration, and, well, fill in the blanks. He faces 91 criminal charges involving an attempt to overthrow the 2020 election, a conspiracy to interfere with Georgia’s 2020 vote, violation of the Espionage Act, and violation of election law. Then there’s his adjudication by jury of sexual abuse. In short, he’s the worst our nation has to offer as a human being let alone a president.

Trump’s also going daft. How do you give a long speech and repeatedly refer to Nikki Haley when you really mean Nancy Pelosi? Meanwhile, Trump is calling Haley, “bird brain”!

The No Labels’ candidate’s nickname for Trump is clear. It’s not brain dead. It’s traitor — based on his past and promised future betrayals. His re-election will surely spell the end of NATO and Putin’s occupation of large parts of Eastern Europe.

No Labels’ best move is no move. But if the organization does nominate, it should nominate someone who can offer a new direction — someone with explicit, tough, novel, and realistic plans for fixing our nation’s litany of severe problems. This book provides the platform on which I ran, as a registered independent write-in candidate, for President in 2016.

Team me up — I’m a spry 73 (far too young to run, I know, but …) with another independent, preferably a smart, tough, forward thinking former Chair of the Joint Chiefs, and we’d have what No Labels should be after — people who can set a new and clear course for our country, marked by progress, not division.

But any candidate chosen by No Labels — and, no, I’m not seriously volunteering — should pledge to run on a contingent basis. Were it clear that the No Labels ticket would toss the election to Trump, the No Labels candidate needs to fall on their sword, endorse President Biden, warts and all, and drop out of the race.

If No Labels can’t find two incredibly impressive independent candidates and if it can’t extract their public commitments to run on a contingent basis, the organization’s self-appointed kingmakers should stand down and not put our nation at further risk.