{"id":1056986,"date":"2023-04-10T10:18:49","date_gmt":"2023-04-10T10:18:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jacobin.com\/2023\/04\/no-labels-ballot-line-dark-money-corporate-billionaires-centrism-third-party-2024\/"},"modified":"2023-04-10T10:41:47","modified_gmt":"2023-04-10T10:41:47","slug":"the-dark-money-backed-front-group-no-labels-is-buying-its-own-ballot-line","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2023\/04\/10\/the-dark-money-backed-front-group-no-labels-is-buying-its-own-ballot-line\/","title":{"rendered":"The Dark Money\u2013Backed Front Group No Labels Is Buying Its Own Ballot Line"},"content":{"rendered":"\n \n\n\n\n

Laying the groundwork to launch a centrist, third-party \u201cunity\u201d ticket in 2024, the billionaire-funded group No Labels is buying its own ballot line \u2014 which is secretly being purchased outside disclosure rules that have long governed US election campaigns.<\/h3>\n\n\n
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\n The launch of No Labels in New York City on December 13, 2010. (Spencer Platt \/ Getty Images)\n <\/figcaption> \n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n \n

In 2024, billionaires and corporate executives are preparing to go from using shadowy front groups that influence politics and policy to fielding handpicked candidates on their very own ballot line, which is being secretly purchased outside disclosure rules that have long governed election campaigns.<\/p>\n

That may sound like a conspiracy theory, but it is happening right now out in the open. Donors and political operatives at the corporate front group No Labels are actively exploiting a campaign finance loophole to buy themselves direct access to ballots nationwide, in an effort that Democrats warn could swing the upcoming presidential election.<\/p>\n

The scheme \u2014 which is based on a campaign finance law carve-out for groups seeking to draft candidates \u2014 could create an entirely new path to elect candidates even more beholden to billionaires and corporate interests than major party politicians. And here\u2019s the kicker: the public might never be able to know who is paying to make it happen.<\/p>\n

Right now, all the public knows is that No Labels is\u00a0leading<\/a>\u00a0a $70 million campaign to lay the groundwork for a potential 2024 \u201cunity\u201d ticket \u2014 which would feature one Democrat and one Republican. Democrats and media outlets\u00a0have been<\/a>\u00a0raising alarms<\/a>\u00a0that the move could undermine President Joe Biden and help elect a Republican.<\/p>\n

Compared to moneyed groups\u2019 previous failed efforts to field alternate candidates, the No Labels initiative is more ambitious, secretive, and corrupt: under the guise of bipartisan consensus, the corporate influence machine is buying its own national ballot line, funded by ultrawealthy, anonymous donors.<\/p>\n

Thanks to a 2010 court ruling, No Labels doesn\u2019t have to disclose anything about who\u2019s funding its campaign. It\u2019s also planning to employ a top-down candidate selection process: No Labels has\u00a0indicated<\/a> that candidates would be chosen by a group of people handpicked by the organization, which has close ties to corporate lawmakers like Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV), Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ), and Susan Collins (R-ME).<\/p>\n

Now, as No Labels pursues its own nationwide ballot line, experts say the group will likely never have to reveal to the public who\u2019s financing the effort \u2014 not even if the organization does decide to field a presidential ticket.<\/p>\n

Of course, the Democratic and Republican political parties have both become increasingly reliant on dark pools of outside cash to help elect their politicians. But the official party committees must still regularly file public reports detailing their donors and expenditures.<\/p>\n

No Labels, by contrast, is a tax-exempt nonprofit and is not required to publicly disclose its donors \u2014 even as it\u2019s reportedly spending tens of millions getting ready to run candidates on the \u201cNo Labels Party\u201d ballot line around the country.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for No Labels did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n\n \n\n \n \n \n

Low Risk of Corruption<\/h2>\n \n

Long funded by\u00a0billionaire investors and corporate executives<\/a>, No Labels has up until now made its name forging alliances with key lawmakers in Washington \u2014 cheering on those politicians and helping raise money for their campaigns as they\u2019ve pushed policymaking in the Biden era to the right \u2014 to the benefit of their corporate donors.<\/p>\n

Now, as it gets involved in the 2024 election contest, No Labels\u2019 strategy can be traced back to a 2010 court ruling and a subsequent 2014 Federal Election Commission (FEC) decision that concluded nonprofits seeking to draft federal candidates are not considered political committees until they officially nominate a candidate.<\/p>\n

What that means, in practice, is that dark money groups do not have to disclose their donors or expenses as they work to procure ballot access around the country and consider potential candidates.<\/p>\n