It’s no wonder Americans are so disillusioned with politics. We have two parties held captive by extremist voices, unable to work together to solve our most basic problems. These parties seem determined to give us two choices — Trump and Biden — that no one wants for a second time.
But what if we could start with a blank page and rethink our political status quo? Which candidates would we choose to lead us?
When I talk to people about the next presidential election, I ask them who would be on their dream ticket, and they always get excited thinking about it. When I want to make it even more interesting, I ask them to choose one person from each party — any two leaders who they think could bring this country back together and lead us to a great and unified future.
On the Republican side, I’ve heard names like former Governors Doug Ducey of Arizona and Mitch Daniels of Indiana, former Senator Rob Portman from Ohio, former Navy Four Star Admiral William McRaven, current U.S. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, and former congressman and TV personality Joe Scarborough.
On the Democratic side, I’ve heard Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Congressman Jared Golden of Maine, and former governors Andrew Cuomo of New York and Jay Nixon of Missouri.
Here in Colorado, many people also mention our popular governor, Jared Polis.
There are also many great leaders outside of politics — such as Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase & Co — who have the leadership chops to step into the nation’s top role.
For most people I speak to, it’s not only the names that excite them; it’s also the possibility of putting together a bipartisan Dream Team that can come together to solve our challenges. We’ve become so accustomed to the stale party processes that yield the same types of candidates that we have forgotten who is in charge. This is still a democracy. It is “We the People” — not “We the Parties” — that get to decide who is running the show.
That’s what one group is attempting to help us do. No Labels, an organization founded to deliver two-party solutions in Washington, is working to get on the ballot for president in all 50 states as an insurance policy for 2024. If a majority of the country is unsatisfied with their two major party options, No Labels will nominate a unity ticket featuring a Republican and Democrat as running mates — and will ask Americans for help choosing the candidates.
In my view, this is a million-dollar idea for two reasons.
First, it would give us a truly bipartisan ticket, giving voice to the middle majority of the country that is neither far right nor far left. It would be built on the idea that most Republicans and Democrats have more in common with each other than they do with the extremes of their parties — and that if we combine these commonsense Americans into a new coalition, we can solve America’s biggest challenges.
Second, it breaks us out of the party nominating process that limits our presidential choices. Think about the situation on the Democratic side: Only a slim majority of Democrats now tell polsters they want Biden to be the nominee, and in 2022 64% of Democrats said they wanted a different candidate in 2024. Yet no serious Democrats are willing to challenge him, so the voters are stuck.
Democratic Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minnesota, drove home that sentiment on Meet The Press last week when he asked Biden to “pass the torch.”
It’s just as bad on the Republican side, where the anti-Trump vote is split in so many directions that no single candidate seems capable of beating him.
A No Labels ticket allows Americans to finally get creative about who they want to lead their country. It invites them to forget about Trump and Biden and ask which two people, one Republican, and one Democrat, have the qualities that represent who we are as a country.
Unfortunately, the effort is under attack from a cabal of Democratic groups organized under Arabella Advisors, a dark money network. They want to keep the power in control of the parties, not the people.
It’s about time we reclaim our role because the two parties are on a crash course for yet another fraught and dangerous election year reminiscent of 2020, which almost broke our country in half.
No Labels is still leaving open the possibility that the parties will correct course and we won’t need a third choice. But I, for one, am increasingly grateful that we have the option if we need it.
So I ask, who would be on your “Dream Ticket.”
Roger Hutson is a co-chair of No Labels Colorado, a board member of Colorado Concern, and the CEO of HRM Resources IV, LLC
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