No Labels, a bipartisan organization that is aiming to add a third-party candidate to the ballot in all 50 states for the 2024 presidential race, held its first town hall event Monday in New Hampshire.
The organization said it wants candidates who can “declare their freedom from the anger and divisiveness that are ruining our politics and most importantly, our country.”
The event at St. Anselm College featured an hourlong discussion among the organization’s co-chairs − Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, a Republican − who addressed “pressing issues” they believe the country is facing, including gun violence, climate change, a mental health crisis and the nation’s debt.
Here are some takeaways from the town hall:
Why No Labels is pushing a third-party candidate
Former Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Ct.,− one of the speakers who opened the event − said that the purpose of No Labels is to reunite political parties and people, to “stop the partisanship and incivility and refusal to compromise that divided our country and disabled our government” and to bring new ideas to the table.
The organization − which embraces centrist policies − is looking at gaining ballot access and influencing the agenda of politicians that are coming to New Hampshire and other states during primary season so that voters have another option on the ballot, according to former North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory, a Republican who also helped open the event.
Manchin, one of the key speakers at the event, said that the political parties “have not delivered.”
Huntsman called for voters to bring their ideas to the table, highlighting the gridlock among politicians around key issues. He also suggested implementing a national service that can help the youth feel more connected to their country.
Manchin and Huntsman argue for another option on the ballot
Manchin flirted with the idea of a running as a third party candidate with “No Labels” in the 2024 race, while Huntsman ruled out the possibility of running for the top spot. However, both men agreed that there needs to be another person on the ballot.
“We’re here to make sure that the American people have an option and the option is can you move the political parties off their respective sides,” Manchin said. “They’ve gone too far right and too far left. If that movement can move, but that can’t be done unless they’re threatened.”
Huntsman, who’s lived overseas multiple times in places like China and Russia, said America is the “most innovative” country in the world but that one element of American society that hasn’t been transformed is politics.
“It’s still the same old same old,” Huntsman said. “I mean if we ended up in 2024 with the same set of nominees that we did 2020, I mean is that insanity? Is that the definition of insanity or what?”
‘Greatest fear the United States faces is the debt’
Manchin argued that one of the biggest problems facing the nation is debt, adding that former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Michael Mullen once said in a meeting the “greatest fear the United States faces is the debt of the nation.”
“We don’t have risk management at all,” Manchin said. “We do nothing. We have the Treasury Department that should have a risk management team inside telling us when we’re getting ready to go off the cliff.”
He also said that Social Security and Medicare can’t be fixed unless more workers are paying into it.
Manchin and Huntsman take aim at Trump, social media
When asked how to install trust in the democratic process amid former President Donald Trump’s repeated false claims of election fraud, Manchin said people have to believe the facts and accept them.
“One thing about the political process: when the race is over, and the people have spoken, you move on,” Manchin said. “That’s democracy, the orderly transfer of power. And that’s what the whole world is watching us.”
Manchin also criticized the Jan. 6 attack, calling it an insurrection.
Huntsman suggested that other actors, such as Russians, are behind some of the polarization on social media platforms and said he wished more Americans were aware of that.
Gun violence: ‘We must protect our children’
Manchin said people who are “absolute criminals,” have committed “heinous” crimes or have mental issues should not have access to guns, but that there must be a balance when it comes to restrictions and the Second Amendment.
“The bottom line is we must protect our children,” Manchin said.
Huntsman said mental health is not being discussed enough, and some big questions driving the issue are how to get more mental health awareness into schools and into rural areas where the nation has suicide rates among those who have served in the military.
“We need enough mental health support to be able to deal with serious cases…we need insurance policies that actually recognizes mental health on the same plane as physical health,” Huntsman said. “And right now there’s a huge gap. So a lot of untreated cases, things that people don’t even want to talk about because of the stigma.”
