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Susan Christensen's avatar

I think you are too generous in your assessment of No Labels. There is no way these people don't know that they'd pull votes from Biden. They are not that daft.

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Jim Kunz's avatar

I'm afraid the No Labels folks will get on the ballots in a lot of states, eventually decide that they have no chance of winning, then drop out too late to get their names off the ballot, providing an opportunity for a harmful protest vote.

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MP's avatar

Seems like this didn't age well - the Harris campaign spoiled it for themselves! No Labels was trying to give another choice to the public. It is amazing to me how the Dem party - which claims to be for democracy - works to squash new options for the American public - in very shady ways, no less. I urge all to read the recent Matt Taibbi piece "The Democrats' Dirty Tricks Playbook" which details many documents recently made public through discovery that show - clear as day - that the Democratic Party continuously and methodically hit No Labels with an array of schemes, some of which may have been illegal. I also urge people to watch the full recording of the No Labels National Conference (video on YouTube), which was held this week in DC. My hope is people would stop making assumptions about them and just listen to what they have to say for a moment instead of the narrative that has been fed to them by the media / powers that be. Because they are trying to do good work.

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Upstate Democrat's avatar

Mike Murphy is a national treasure.

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Carol Janes's avatar

Who do you think will be the GOP candidate if not Trump? DeSantis is disgusting but would he get the nomination if Trump is in jail? Does this party realize that they could actually win if they ran a candidate of good character like Will Hurd or Asa Hutchinson??? As a Democrat I am not happy about Biden running. I am almost 75 and in very good health; still I think he is too old...and for some they will be thinking Biden could die and Harris would take over and that will stop them voting for Biden...

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Jack Killorin's avatar

Genius move, though. Flank 80 year old Biden, and 77 year old Trump, with 75 year old Manchin. Wrap up the youth vote with a "Price is Right" strategy.

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Eric Loop's avatar

Well said according to this nose-holding former R who has quit the party that has, for now at least, lost their collective mind.

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Roz Warren's avatar

The Electoral College didn't make it into the musical because that's going to be the sequel.

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DT Herman's avatar

Agree but just want to add that the effect of No Labels would be equally devastating if DeSantis becomes the nominee. And somebody please redo the barber chair scene from Chaplin's Great Dictator with Trump and DeSantis!

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Jeff's avatar

Mike - I'm a huge fan of yours and I support your assessment of the dangers of the No Labels movement. But perhaps you could clarify why the opposite case isn't true. (people who are highly conservative and can't stand Biden...but can't plug their noses enough to vote for Trump would vote for a No Labels candidate). I'd love to hear about this on a future podcast or substack post. Thanks!

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Cosmic Debris's avatar

The Great McGinty is definitely worth your time. I couldn't find it streaming anywhere but a used DVD copy was easy enough to come by. Amazon has a Blu-Ray version with some added features (e.g. commentary by a film historian). They also sell the DVD version (also easy to find on eBay) and believe it or not, still sells a VHS version for ess than six bucks.

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Matt Malone's avatar

Exactly. The threat represented by Trump and his cult is too great to entertain a third party.

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