Inside the secret battle to stop No Labels

How moderate Democrats joined with old enemies on the left to stop No Labels, their own friends in the center, from challenging Joe Biden.

WASHINGTON — Once upon a time, before the multimillion-dollar negative campaigns and allegations of running “a conspiracy to commit extortion, voter intimidation, and other criminal behavior,” they were friends. Good friends.

The people who run No Labels and Third Way, two of the most prominent centrist organizations in Washington, had all come up together in the small world of Clinton-era center-left politics.

Nancy Jacobson, an early Bill Clinton hire and the founder of No Labels, helped raise the initial money and secure the necessary political blessings to start Third Way. The think tank was co-founded by Jon Cowan, whom Jacobson viewed as something of a mentee. Cowan, now Third Way's president, even signed the ketubah (the Jewish wedding contract) at Jacobson's wedding to Mark Penn, whose firm conducts No Labels’ polls.

Then came the 2024 election — and No Labels’ decision to try to field a bipartisan “unity ticket” against both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, backed by a reported budget of $70 million. Third Way, which may be centrist but is firmly Democratic, viewed this as a misguided, no-hope effort that could only spoil the election for Biden and help to re-elect Trump, with potentially disastrous consequences.

"There were deep personal stakes and relationships," Cowan said, adding: “Third Way took on this fight to expose the No Labels Party presidential bid as fraudulent centrism because we have long believed in and represented the sensible, vital center.”

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/no-labels-third-way-secret-war-stop-rcna147335

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