Third-party presidential effort is a game changer

By Tom Reed 
RealClearWire

Years ago, I helped found the Problem Solvers Caucus in the U.S. House. A key partner in this effort was a group called No Labels. Together, we rallied around the simple concept that America needed courageous leaders of both parties who are willing to listen to each other and work together. It has succeeded beyond our wildest expectations. Now, No Labels is working to bring the same concept to where it is needed most: the White House. If you’re not taking this effort seriously now, you will be soon.

Many on the right and left are deriding No Labels’ unity ticket concept – which would feature a Democrat and a Republican as running mates – as a potential spoiler for either Joe Biden or Donald Trump. These critics all share something in common: they benefit from the broken status quo. As a longtime member of the Problem Solvers Caucus, I have seen proof-of-concept firsthand that the bipartisan model that No Labels is advancing works. In fact, it is the only thing that works.

Consider the infrastructure deal, which was largely led and brokered by the Problem Solvers. We worked on it while President Biden and Senator Schumer were pushing the highly partisan Build Back Better Act, which failed to appeal to even a single Republican. The Problem Solvers led an insurgent effort that went around the leadership of both parties and galvanized the bipartisan center.

It worked, and now the leaderships of both parties claim credit for this historic investment. That’s a good thing. They should be proud of it. And they should see it as a call to pursue similar bipartisan solutions to other national challenges – from immigration to inflation to the national debt. But chances are, they won’t. The political incentives that pull both parties’ leaderships to the extremes are too strong.

That’s why, to solve other pressing problems, we need to follow the Problem Solvers playbook: We need an insurgent effort from a bipartisan coalition. No Labels is delivering it in 2024. They are working to put problem solving leaders in the White House.

Listen to the rhetoric from D.C. insiders on the left and you may think that No Labels’ unity ticket will take votes from Joe Biden and guarantee a Trump reelection. This isn’t true. No Labels has demonstrated through data that a unity ticket would pull from both sides equally and have a legitimate shot at winning the election outright. If those numbers changed and it became true that the ticket would end up helping Trump win, then No Labels has pledged to stand down.

No Labels is building the launching pad for a Problem Solving president to emerge because the American people are demanding it. Polling shows voters fleeing the two major parties in droves and identifying as independent or unaffiliated at historic rates. It shows plummeting confidence in the ability of the two parties to solve our biggest challenges. And it shows close to 70% of the American people do not want Biden or Trump to run again. No Labels is listening to the people and making sure their voice is heard.

Finally, we also need a Problem Solver president for the simple reason that bipartisan solutions are the only solutions that last. While a partisan president with a partisan congressional majority may be able to ram through a mega-bill – like President Obama did with Obamacare, Trump did with tax reform, and Biden did with the Inflation Reduction Act – these laws will ultimately be shredded apart through years of court battles and legislative attacks. The infrastructure bill, however, will never be re-litigated because it was done the right way.

When will our insider D.C. leaders learn that the hyper-partisan status quo is failing? In truth, they already know it. But they will not change until we force them. A system will never reform itself because those in power want to stay in power. That’s why we need an insurgent effort just like the one No Labels is leading. No Labels is clearly onto something big. How do we know? Because the entire insider political establishment is attacking it with full force.

Tom Reed, a founder of the Problem Solvers Caucus, is a former U.S. Congressman who represented New York’s 23rd Congressional District until 2022.