A Third Party? Great. Third Candidate? Not So Much.
A Third Party? Great. Third Candidate? Not So Much.
Plus: The Shadow Wars of Michael Vickers
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LEE DRUTMAN AND BEAU TREMITIERE: The Presidential Race Could Use a Third Party—But Not a Third Candidate.
THE GROUP ‘NO LABELS’ HAS RAISED at least $70 million in order to run a centrist, third-party ticket in the 2024 presidential election. They’re right that two parties is too few. But there is a much better way to rebuild the political center and to give Americans more choices at the ballot box: fusion voting, which allows third parties to cross-nominate candidates without spoiling, giving voice and power to the millions who don’t like either the Democratic or Republican parties. And it has a long and rich history in the American political tradition.
The current debate over third-party candidates posits a false choice. The critics of a potential No Labels candidacy are right: a centrist third-party ticket is all but certain to fail and throw the election into chaos. Regardless of which side gains electorally, a spoiled election would be bad for our democracy.
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GABRIEL SCHOENFELD: The Shadow Wars of Michael Vickers.
IT WAS A SOCIAL STUDIES TEACHER, Dr. Anthony DeRiggi, who started it all. In 1971, he slipped a New York Times article about a CIA covert operation in Laos to a desultory high-school student by the name of Michael Vickers. A dream was launched, writes Vickers in his new memoir, By All Means Available: “I imagined myself leading secret armies in far-off lands and winning against impossible odds.” That dream was realized and much more. Vickers went on to become a Green Beret, a CIA operations officer, and then one of the most consequential defense and intelligence officials of the past four decades.
MONA CHAREN: How to Read Polls Without Terror.
Experts will advise you never to eat meat with cream sauce at a buffet; always to lock your car even when just dashing into the 7-Eleven for two minutes; and never to read national polls in the year before an election.
I obey only the first two advisories, and admittedly, reading polls about the 2024 presidential election takes a toll on my mental health. That said, I think there are coping mechanisms available for those who do succumb.
🚨OVERTIME🚨
Happy Thursday! Are there more tapes? A report in the UK Independent says that the charges against Trump may effectively double in number.
Pence makes a secret trip to Ukraine… And meets with President Zelenskyy. He’s not likely going to be the nominee, but more of this from Republicans, please.
Looking back at… Boy Meets World. So many great little nuggets in this item!
Geraldo quits FOX… After getting fired from “The Five”, the famed mustachioed man leaves the Murdoch empire after 23 years.
Also at FOX… Jesse Watters’s attempt to dunk on President Biden’s confusion about Ukraine/Iraq ended with him confusing Iraq and Afghanistan. The new face of FOX primetime!
Meanwhile, in the “Free State of Florida™”… Gov. DeSantis sent nearly $100m in COVID relief money to a project that would benefit one of his benefactors.
…And in France… The nationwide protests continue following the fatal shooting of a teenager.
Matt Labash on our lying problem… And how George Orwell can stop it.
Ten people busted… By DOJ for insider trading about COVID-19 treatments.
Moms4Liberty… Continue to not care about the past associations of its speakers, even if they’re OathKeepers who spoke at a pro-confederate conference.
Why so many cities and states… Are changing their flags.
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