TO: Interested Parties

FROM: Third Way

RE: Talking Points on the No Labels Party Threat to Re-elect Trump

• No Labels is completely alone in their assessment that they won’t be a spoiler. Every
independent analyst to look at their plans says they can’t win and will hurt Biden. That’s
why every Democrat I know—including many of their allies—is alarmed by their plans.

• Republicans are salivating at their third-party bid. There are no panicked meetings in
MAGA world about No Labels. The right-wing ecosystem is rooting for them to prosper
and drain Democratic votes.

• I’d bet that’s why a bunch of prominent Republicans like Clarence Thomas’s buddy
Harlan Crow are giving to No Labels. You can’t tell me with a straight face that an effort
backed by major GOP donors, vendors, and staff isn’t going to hurt Democrats.

• The No Labels electoral map is a fantasy, projecting to win 286 electoral votes from
states like Massachusetts and Vermont that Biden won by 30 or more points in 2020.

• But don’t take my word for it, No Labels’ own polling undercuts their claims. Their ticket
comes in a distant third and hands Trump a five-point advantage.

• Third-party candidates haven’t won enough electoral votes in the last 100 years
combined to win a single election. Ross Perot – who No Labels cites as a model – didn’t
win a single electoral college vote and unlike No Labels, he had grassroots support that
got him on the ballot in most states instead of paid consultants.

• The spin from No Labels is that this is a unique moment where they can win. But
openness to a third-party is not dramatically higher today than it has been for decades,
and it’s never translated into a third-party victory.
o In 1992, 59% of voters said they wanted other choices but on Election Day,
Perot’s support was 40 points below that threshold, and he got zero electoral
votes.
• It’s breathtakingly arrogant for the No Labels Party to tie their bid to the civil rights
movement while they are undermining our democracy.
o They are a political party refusing to play by the rules to collect unlimited
amounts of dark money, have insiders and donors choosing their presidential
ticket, and are preparing to throw the 2024 election to the House.
o Shutting out millions of American voters is incredibly anti-democratic, and that’s
before I mention that they would re-elect Trump.
• Each time our democracy is on the line, No Labels gives cover to Donald Trump. They
hailed him as a “Problem Solver” in 2016 and attacked the January 6th Committee as
“divisive” and a “partisan exercise.” And if they don’t stand down, they will clear his path
to the White House in 2024.

Third Way • September 8, 2023