By Steve Brawner, © 2024 by Steve Brawner Communications, Inc.

Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson hopes No Labels fields a competitive independent presidential candidate this November. It just won’t be him. 

“The short answer is that I want No Labels to have a strong candidate and I am not the right one,” Hutchinson wrote in a text March 11. “They need someone with a bigger profile and money. And I have a number of options in [the] private sector that are appealing.”

He said it is “premature” to elaborate on those options, so I asked him if he wanted to expand on why he, a lifelong Republican, has hopes for No Labels.

“Just like many Americans, I am not excited about a Trump candidacy and I will not endorse him,” he texted. “And I don’t support Biden. I ran for President because we needed an alternative beyond Trump and Biden and I still believe that is true.”

No Labels prior to last year was best known for its Problem Solvers Caucus. It’s composed of congressional Republicans and Democrats who pledge to work together. Needless to say, it has not exactly led to a golden age of bipartisanship. 

Last year, No Labels decided that if the two parties nominated President Biden and former President Trump, it would be ready to offer another choice. Its “Unity” ticket would feature either a Republican or a Democratic presidential candidate and a vice presidential candidate from the other party. It has qualified for 16 state ballots so far, including Arkansas, and is working on others.

After Biden and Trump virtually clinched their parties’ nominations on Super Tuesday March 5, No Labels and its supporters decided to move forward. It announced its  candidate selection process March 14. 

In an interview with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Hutchinson said No Labels needs to find its candidates within about the next month.

Who might No Labels pick?

Who might they be? Two of the most oft-mentioned names, former centrist Republican Gov. Larry Hogan of Maryland and centrist Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, took themselves out of the running. Utah Sen. Mitt Romney has both the bigger profile and the money Hutchinson talked about. He’s said he’s out, too.

Romney is not ideal, anyway. Although he doesn’t look it, he’s 77. With two old men ages 81 and 77 heading the major party tickets, No Labels should offer fresher faces. 

A ‘spoiler’ role?

Critics say independents can’t win, but they can play a “spoiler” role. That’s where they take enough votes from the most similar major party candidate to assure the election of the other one. Democrats have been especially fearful No Labels would hurt Biden.

No Labels has said it doesn’t want to be a spoiler and that it wouldn’t move forward if there were no path to victory. I believe that’s so. It especially doesn’t want to help elect Trump, so I expect its presidential candidate, if it has one, to be a Republican.

Could an independent win this year? If not now, when? Americans are often dissatisfied with their choices. But in this election, the two major party candidates are deeply flawed in ways that no amount of campaign spin can hide.

As Hutchinson told the CBC, “This year, the two major political parties are giving the electorate two candidates they don’t want, the Biden-Trump rematch. And so if there’s ever a time for a third party or independent run, it is now. … One thing we know for sure, Donald Trump is not going to change his ways, and Joe Biden is not going to get any younger.”

Hard to argue that.