56% Would Consider A Third-Party Candidate; Independent Candidate
Noted American political pollster Frank Luntz shared his latest polling data on a recent Zoom call with No Labels members, which showed that “a majority of Americans will consider voting for a third-party candidate,” for President.
Luntz’s No-Labels discussion group, which was re-aired on C-SPAN on Dec. 27, gave the pollster a chance to set the record straight about the impact of a third-party Presidential candidate on the ballot in 2024. “I want to dispell at the outset that a third party candidate will lead to the election of Donald Trump. That is false, that is inaccurate,” said Luntz whose analysis found that an unnamed third-party candidate would poll at 20% with both Biden and Trump at 35%.
“A third-party candidate draws 15% from the democratic candidate and 16% from the republican candidate. Tell me how that elects Donald Trump President. It doesn’t,” said Luntz.
Other major takeaways from Luntz’s research found:
I-56% of Americans would consider voting for a third-party Presidential candidate if the two other choices were Biden and Trump.
II-80% of Independent voters would consider a third-party option for President.
III-Luntz called President Biden “the Democrats worst candidate,” and “if you are a democratic leaning voter, you should be apoplectic about your nominee (Biden). No campaign can fix, and no spin doctor can change his age. That has weakened him. Trump doesn’t act as old as Biden.”
Luntz explained that the difference between the 81 year old Biden and the 77 year old Trump was “how he (Biden) presents himself. He loses his place and can’t complete his thought. What will he be like in a nationwide debate in October of next year? Younger voters and african americans, have moved away from Biden. Some African Americans will come back, but African-American men are drawn to Trump. Young people look at him (Biden) and are reminded of their grandparents.”
“If I were a democratic strategist, I would be screaming bloody murder. I think Joe Biden is an incredibly weak candidate. The democrats are nominating their weakest candidate,” said Luntz, who added that he is not a fan or supporter of Trump.
IV-Overall, voters are angry, according to Luntz and his polling, with 72% agreeing with the statement “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore.”
Luntz was positive on the idea of No Labels running a Unity, third-party ticket next year, based on his polling. “Americans should vote for the best candidate, not the lesser of two evils.”
When asked what record the preferred No Labels Presidential candidate should have, Luntz said, “They need to have a record as a problem solver, and they need to be truthful.”
Luntz suggested two possible, third-party, No Labels Presidential candidates: Admiral William McRaven, and businessman, TV personality and entrepreneur Mark Cuban. Mark Cuban would be a great presidential candidate. He is completely solution oriented and is a success story. Both have character.”
Luntz said his polling shows “Trump is no better off today than 6 months ago, but Biden is worse. The public doesn’t want either of these people and that percentage goes up every month. The fact that Trump has a ten point lead in Nevada shows that the election is moving away from Biden, and that has nothing to do with No Labels. It is a distraction for democrats to blame No Labels.”
“Americans always vote for the incumbent but not this time. This is a change election and you can never say never anymore.”
Luntz was disturbed about the difficulty it is to find good, unbiased news coverage in the media today, adding “I want to give Americans their voice back.”
No Labels will determine in March whether to move forward with a Unity ticket for President and Vice-President of one democrat and one republican if “the public clearly wants an alternative to the major party nominees and there is a viable path to outright victory for an independent Unity ticket in 2024,” according to their website, nolabels.org.
