The search for an alternative candidate to Joe Biden

Former Democratic Sen. Joe Lieberman is leading the search for an alternate choice for Joe Biden in the 2024 election, arguing that “the Democratic left has too much clout.”

Lieberman, in his role as leader of No Labels, a group that promotes centrist, bipartisan policies and politics, is working to give Americans an option that is neither Republican nor Democrat, but someone in the middle.

In an interview with DailyMail.com, Lieberman chided President Biden, whom he has known for years, for spending too much taxpayer money and not doing enough to rule from the center.

‘Some things [Biden] was a response to the pandemic or to overspend,” Lieberman said, adding that it “definitely contributed to inflation.”

“I think the left of the party has influenced the government in many ways,” he noted.

The search for an alternative comes as polls show that only about half of Democrats believe Biden should run again. And the president also faces waning support from two major voting blocs — black and Latino voters — that helped him win in 2020.

In addition, a Suffolk University/USA Today poll last summer found that 60 percent of voters say the country’s two largest political parties do not adequately represent their views and believe a third party is needed.

Also notable in that poll was that 79 percent of young voters — traditionally a Democratic voting bloc — said they would like a third option for president.

But who that third option could be remains a question mark.

Lieberman declined to talk about specific names when it came to a candidate, saying the group would consider business leaders, opinion leaders and “celebrities from the entertainment industry — some of them all take this pretty seriously” in addition to politicians.

There has been speculation that moderate Democratic Senator Joe Manchin could be a contender, as could former Maryland Republican Larry Hogan.

Biden formally announced last week that he is seeking a second term in the White House.

Democrats have expressed concern about his age – at 80, he is the oldest president in US history. He has also seen his approval rating drop to an all-time low of 37%.

Biden shrugged off a question about his advanced years last week.

“As for the age, I can’t even say — I guess how old I am, I can’t even say the number, it doesn’t register me,” he said. He added that he expected voters to “take a good look at it, I would too.” I looked at it before I decided to flee.’

His doctor has cleared him fit to serve, but Biden has shown signs of feeling his years: He sometimes walks with a limp, he has tripped as he climbed the stairs to board Air Force One, and he has multiple verbal blunders made.

Biden also declined questions about his favorable assessment.

“I’ve noticed that the polls I keep hearing about are that I have between 42 and 46% favorable rating,” he said, “but anyone running for re-election in this day and age has had the same position, there’s nothing there news.’

Meanwhile, on the Republican side, polls show Donald Trump holding a double-digit lead over other GOP possibilities.

There has been speculation that either moderate Democratic Senator Joe Manchin (left) or former Republican Maryland Governor Larry Hogan (right) could lead a third party.

Some Democrats worry, especially if there is another Biden-Trump matchup, that No Labels’ third-party candidate could play a spoiler role and peel enough moderate voters off the Democratic ticket to secure a Republican victory. to ensure.

Lieberman denied this was the group’s intention. And he knows the dangers a third party can pose to an established candidate. In the 2000 presidential campaign, when Lieberman was Al Gore’s running mate, they fell just 537 Florida votes short of victory and Ralph Nader, the liberal activist and Green Party nominee, won more than 97,000 votes. George W. Bush’s victory in Florida earned him the White House.

It’s not so much that we’re going to be spoilers. I’m going to do everything I can to make sure we’re not. It’s that we’re challenging the status quo,” Lieberman said.

He noted that No Labels – at the moment – is focused on getting the ballots in every state and not recruiting candidates.

So far, they’ve made the vote in four: Arizona, Colorado, Alaska and Oregon.

“We are currently on the ground or have already applied in nine other states and we plan to vote on around 20 by the end of the year,” No Labels spokesperson Maryanne Martini said.

Arizona is particularly crucial. Biden was the first Democrat to win the state since Bill Clinton in 1992. His victory was less than one percent but sealed his victory over Donald Trump in the general election.

Lieberman said No Labels would hold a national convention in Dallas in April and would know by then whether or not a third-party candidate is viable.

“If the 2024 election looks like a repeat of 2020, as well as another partisan, mudslide, then we’re all really gearing up to fight a bipartisan unity ticket to challenge the failed status quo.” , he said.

No Labels has described what they are doing as an ‘insurance policy’ against extremists on both sides.

And strategists in both parties are concerned that their bipartisan, work-together message could harm respective candidates in the 2024 election.

Polls Show Only 55 Percent of Black Adults and 43 Percent of Latinos Support Joe Biden

Both Manchin and Hogan told it The Washington Post last month that they didn’t rule out being on a No Labels ticket, if it comes to that.

“If enough Americans believe there is an option and the option threatens the far left and the far right, I think that will be the biggest contribution to democracy,” Manchin said. And as for the ticket, “I don’t include myself and I don’t exclude myself.”

“I think it’s very important to have that opportunity. Because we’ve never been where we are in America,” Hogan noted. “The vast majority of people in America are not happy with the course of the country and they don’t want to see Joe Biden or Donald Trump as president.”

No Labels reportedly has a $70 million war chest willing to invest in his presidential endeavors.

In addition to the threat of a third-party effort, Biden also faces an upsurge of support among some of the Democrats’ most trusted support groups: blacks and Hispanics.

It was South Carolina black voters who helped him become the Democratic nominee after giving him a landslide victory in the primary.

But in addition to appointing Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court — a fact he mentioned in his second-term announcement video — Biden has failed on other issues that matter to African Americans, including protecting the right to vote from GOP led restrictions and enacting police reforms.

In an AP-NORC poll conducted a week before Biden’s announcement, only 55 percent of black adults said they were likely to support him in the general election. Of Latinos, only 27 percent want Biden back in action in 2024, and only 43 percent say they will definitely or probably support him.

The campaign seems aware of its shaky ground with minority voters. Biden has hired Spanish campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez, the granddaughter of legendary labor leader Cesar Chavez, and he has hired a black deputy campaign manager: Quentin Fulks.