Can the No Labels organization gain momentum with its U.S. presidential bid?

Joe Biden and Donald Trump kicked off their general election rematch this weekend basically both campaigning in the Battleground state of Georgia but as the race for the White House shapes up to be a redo of 2020 the Centrist group No Label says it will move ahead with a

Unity ticket I as former Republican presidential candidate ASA Hutchinson about the fight for those voters in the middle Governor Hutchinson thank you so much for being here again I appreciate it absolutely good to be with you we’ll talk about all the the things happening inside the Republican party but I do

Want to ask you about uh the president’s uh State of the Union on Thursday a lot of pressure on him I think to meet the moment uh with that State of the Union Address uh and to address I think some of the the the narrative that he wants

To change away from his age and back to some of the things he wants to talk about do do you think he managed to succeed in in doing that uh I think he did very well in terms of the uh fire in his his heart getting getting ready for the campaign

Uh I think he shored up Democratic support uh and so I think he made a good presentation now substantively obviously I don’t think he did an effective job of going after Independence which he’s got to do he certainly shored up his base and I think he made a a uh dramatic

Presentation last night that will help him he he mentioned his predecessor a lot uh didn’t name Donald Trump but he sure named him he he mentioned him a lot a lot of people thought maybe that was too political for a state of the union what what did you think of how often

Trump was invoked well as a former member of Congress I’ve been to many state of the union addresses I’ve watched him through the decades and let me tell you that was the most political speech I’ve ever heard it was a campaign speech uh he mentioned his predecessor 10 times in

The speech and it didn’t bring the parties together it really set the tone for a fall uh president presidential campaign so it was effective for President Biden but it was certainly much more political than we’ve ever seen at a State of the Union Address all right well let’s talk about how things

Are going on the other side Nikki Haley obviously now out of the race but didn’t endorse Donald Trump instead she called on him to reach out to voters who are not yet convinced he’s the right choice to try and earn their vote what did you make of of her messaging did that

Surprise you at all Governor uh it didn’t surprise me but I think it’s uh right the burden of unifying the party is on the front runner it’s on Donald Trump he needs to reach out to Haley supporters and those donors and that base of the uh Republican electorate that did not

Support him he needs to reach out to them and I think if he does effectively then even Nikki Haley is likely to come in and and say you give me a good spot in the convention where I can convey my message uh I think that could bring them

Together How likely is he to do that though and what kinds of things would he have to do and say to get there because I don’t see a guy willing to compromise on his on his message so far well you’re right about that and so while that’s the smart thing to do it’s

The rational thing to do when’s the last time Donald Trump did that and so uh we’ll see how that plays out but I’m sure he’ll get that encouragement but without that you know he’s got 30 to 40% of the Republican base that says they want an alternative and so he can’t just

Simply you know feed his base he’s got to reach out more if he wants to win on Friday the No Labels group held a a private virtual meeting with its delegates um and it is I guess deciding the the group is hoping to have a potential candidate in the coming weeks

Is a third party Unity ticket is that even feasible at this point is it something that is really uh worth talking about or watching it really is I would encourage you to follow it you look at our political history the major two major political parties have served our country well but

This year the two major political parties are giving uh the electorate two candidates they don’t want yep the Biden Trump rematch and so if there’s ever a time for a third party or independent run it is now and then you also have the combination of the unknown in the future

Uh President Biden is not going to get stronger between now and November and president Trump is going to be the same person he is now which is problematic and he’s got criminal cases pending that’s not going to get better so if there’s ever a time it is now we’ll see

Where that goes well so then how soon would they have to start putting names to the the the No Labels because you would want to start positioning yourself uh I would imagine and and start bringing in money and and and really making a substantive run they would need to do that within

The next month or so okay and part of the reason is uh they can get on 16 State ballots but you have to have a name to get on many of the state ballot as well and so you’ve got to start that process they need to get moving if

That’s going to be a reality we’ve talked before about how um disillusioned lots of Americans are when they look at the ticket the way it’s going to be for them uh Trump or Biden is there anything that either of them could do that could re-engage Americans or or make them

Believe that that one of them uh really deserves this and will bring something different and new well I think uh President Biden uh had a good start on that last night he uh solidified his support among his base among Democrats I think they have a higher level of comfort with him so sort

Of uh rationalizing where they are right now uh and and so he helped himself can Donald Trump help himself uh I think an acquittal on a criminal case would help him really but we’ll see how that plays out and whether a case actually gets to

Trial or not so a lot to be seen unpredictable and uh one thing we know for sure Donald Trump is not going to get uh not going to change his ways and Joe Biden is not going to get any younger just let me end on this when you

Look at the polls from The Wall Street Journal the New York Times Trump is ahead of Biden what is it in your mind Governor that is still resonating for from the former president what is it that people are liking about what he’s saying one simple thing and that is they

See him as a fighter that will fight for them in a Washington that is not functioning well uh whenever it comes to the dire circumstances of our Southern border they see Biden failing and they see Trump as successful and that’s the magic that he has right now Governor

Hutchinson thank you so much for making the time for Canada again appreciate it sir thank you Rosemary

As the race for the White House shapes up to be a rematch of 2020 between U.S. President Joe Biden and Donald Trump, the centrist group No Labels says it will move ahead with a unity ticket. Former governor and Republican presidential candidate Asa Hutchinson talks about the centrist group and whether a third-party ticket is feasible.

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