our letter to no labels

A hard copy of the following letter was sent to No Labels on February 23, 2024.

The 2024 presidential election is the most important our country has faced since the Civil War. It is no overstatement to say that democracy will be on the line.

America’s experiment with self-government is in jeopardy and could soon collapse, and we could move to an authoritarian model.

Congress has become dysfunctional. The American people are divided and polarized. Congress reflects that divided electorate which has made compromise — essential to functioning self-government — nearly unachievable. If compromise is impossible, the American people will understandably give up on self-government and opt for an authoritarian model.

No Labels’ Problem Solvers Caucus, from its inception in 2017, has often been the last bastion of defense against Congressional dysfunction by pushing for bipartisan compromise where none seemed possible.

The efforts in the last few days, for example, by the co-chairs of the Problems Solvers Caucus to come up with a compromise on the border and national security bill is in the highest national interest. Anything No Labels could do to promote that effort would be an enormous contribution to preserving self-government. We commend your efforts on that front.

But we believe that the effort that No Labels is making to put a third-party candidate on the ballot this year is not as meritorious. It not only undermines the good work of the Problems Solvers Caucus, but also poses a direct threat to the future of American democracy by dramatically increasing the likelihood that Donald Trump, who has promised to discard our democratic system for a more authoritarian model, will be elected.

We believe that it is critical that voters be given a straight up and down vote on democracy at the polls this fall — a choice between one candidate who favors preserving our democracy and the other candidate who promises to destroy it.

President Biden, the likely Democratic candidate, is not perfect — many voters believe he is too old. But he firmly stands in the pro-democracy camp.

Former President Trump, the likely Republican nominee, has promised to discard the Constitution, to seek retribution against his political opponents, and to blow up American’s essential alliances. His candidacy is an existential threat to our democracy.

With the stakes for democracy so high this year, a third-party candidacy, no matter how well intentioned, is not the answer. Unlike a parliamentary system, the American presidential system is hostile to third parties. Third party candidates cannot win. Instead, they are likely to be spoilers — and given the nature of the support of the leading candidates that means splitting the pro-democracy vote and throwing the election to the authoritarian Trump.

We all agree, as leaders of No Labels have repeatedly stated, that such an outcome would be a disaster for our country and that Donald Trump should be defeated. For that reason, we believe that all Americans who believe in democracy must unite behind a single candidate to ensure that Trump, in the words of former Congresswoman Liz Cheney, “never again gets anywhere near the Oval Office.”

To assure an up and down vote on democracy, Citizens to Save Our Republic, is asking all potential third party candidates and sponsors of third party candidates to sign our “No-Spoiler Pledge.”

Signing this pledge commits you to not playing spoiler by withdrawing your candidate, if you have one, from the ballots in the swing states that will decide the election if by July 1 your candidate has no mathematical or practical chance of being elected president.

This pledge is consistent with your repeated statements that No Labels does not intend to be a spoiler in the 2024 race, and you would not put up a candidate who could, in any way, help Trump regain the White House. We hope you will sign it.

With our democracy, in the words of former federal judge Michael Luttig, “teetering on a knife’s edge,” we cannot risk another Trump presidency.

Sincerely,

Dick Gephardt
Co-Founder
Citizens to Save Our Republic

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