ARGUING YES
Rahna Epting
Executive Director of MoveOn
ARGUING NO
Ryan Clancy
Chief Strategist of No Labels
Here is what we have in store this week:
- We question how a No Labels candidate could reshape the 2024 presidential landscape
- A closer look at the number of registered presidential candidates since 1980
- A week of losses: We look back at Open to Debate guest Henry Kissinger’s 2022 interview and offer condolences to the family of Open to Debate patron Byron Wien
- Your Sunday reading list
Okay, maybe you don’t believe polls. But you know who does? The strategists who advise people who run for president. Polls don’t guide everything they recommend their candidate-clients say or do. Just a lot.
And what the polls are telling them, at just under a year to go until our next presidential election, is that while Donald Trump and Joe Biden are the respective Republican and Democratic frontrunners (with a big edge at present for Trump over Biden), a whole lot of people aren’t too happy about either of them. See, for example, this write-up from NBC News.
So into this enthusiasm-vacuum steps the movement that is the subject of the debate we’re releasing this week. No Labels is an organization founded in 2010 to advance the cause of bipartisanship in Congress. This year, however, it is laying the groundwork possibly to run a competing presidential ticket – one aimed at capturing what No Labels sees as the underserved center. A key idea of theirs is creating a ticket composed of one moderate Republican (former Maryland governor Larry Hogan’s name has been mentioned a lot) and one moderate Democrat (lots of speculation about West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin).
The Democratic Party does not like this idea one bit. They fear a No Labels ticket will take more votes from Biden than from Trump. Right now, they and their allies are making an all-out effort to discredit the movement while trying to keep them off the ballot.
No Labels’ response? We may or may not run a third ticket, but if we do, we’ll win, and that would be a good thing in a nation yearning for a pick from the middle.
Well, all of that is debatable. Thus, our next topic: How Would A No Labels Presidential Candidate Change the Outcome in 2024? We have a No Labels leader in this one and an opponent from MoveOn, a progressive organization that is backing Joe Biden. Join us as they have it out and predict widely divergent views of our near political future.
Sincerely,
John
DEBATING THE DATA
There was a large increase in candidates in the last two elections.
Can No Labels beat the competition to reach the ballot box?
POINT/COUNTERPOINT
How Would A No Labels Presidential Candidate Change the Outcome in 2024?
MoveOn’s Rahna Epting: No Labels does not have a path to win the presidency.
“No Labels has no math and no path to win in 2024 in our current election system. To actually win the presidency, they would need to do what no third party has ever come close to accomplishing: win 270 electoral votes. Let me be clear, that is not going to happen. It is highly irresponsible at this particular moment of great consequence for the future of our democracy.”
No Label’s Ryan Clancy: Incumbents don’t like competition and Americans want change.
“Americans have rarely, if ever, been this pessimistic about the future of our country or had less confidence that our current leaders can fix our problems. The Democratic and Republican parties are set to sell Americans a product they don’t want to buy in 2024.”
Open to Debate Looks Back at the Legacy of Henry Kissinger
Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger passed away this week aged 100. Over his career spanning six decades, he consulted on security matters for much of the 20th and 21st centuries, advising presidents ranging from Dwight D. Eisenhower to Donald Trump. Both celebrated and the subject of controversy, today we look back on our conversation with Kissinger on the topic of leadership with guest host John Micklethwait, Bloomberg News‘s Editor-in-Chief.
With Gratitude to Byron Wien: Founding Patron of Open to Debate
The Open to Debate team is saddened to learn of the recent passing of longtime supporter Bryon Wien, one of the founding patrons of Open to Debate and a contributor to our success since 2006. From his long career on Wall Street to his Twenty Life Lessons, Wien had been a source of inspiration and visionary ideas for all of us. We will always remember him as a champion of curiosity and are so grateful for his enthusiasm over the years. We offer our deepest condolences to his wife Anita and the Wien family.
WEEKLY POINTS OF VIEW
The Economic Case for a Liberal Arts Education
Allison Schrager | November 29, 2023
Bloomberg
Watch Allison’s debate on whether it is time to redistribute the wealth
The Fight for the Soul of AI
David Brooks | November 24, 2023
The Seattle Times
Watch David’s debate on whether liberals hold the moral high ground
Widespread election fraud claims by Republicans don’t match the evidence
Owen Averill, Annabel Hazrati, and Elaine Kamarck | November 22, 2023
Brookings Institution
Watch Elaine’s debate on whether primary elections are ruining democracy
OpenAI’s board may have been right to fire Sam Altman — and to rehire him, too
Sigal Samuel | November 22, 2023
Vox
Watch Sigal’s debate on whether we should erase bad memories
