Salon.com > No Labels

“No Labels”: We’re not centrist anymore, promise!

Mon, 14 Jan 2013 20:41:00 +0000

For two years, the nonprofit group "No Labels" has brought together some of the most respected and influential members of the New York and Washington political and business elite to publicly fight for a set of vague goals related to "civility" and "problem-solving." They have, so far, failed to advance their cause, because their cause is nonsense. But they keep trying, bless their hearts. Their newest rerelaunch is underway, with some sort of conference in New York today, and their new mascots are figures hated by everyone besides people who reflexively think angering your own party is self-evidently virtuous: Former Utah Gov. John Huntsman and current Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W. Va.

So, we have a conservative Republican whom Republicans hate and a conservative Democrat whom Democrats hate. Classic No Labels!

But No Labels says they've heard your complaints. They claim they're finished with promoting "centrism." Instead of imagining themselves the arbiters of the imaginary "middle," they will fight for real reforms that will end congressional dysfunction.

No Labels commands you to thank Joe Lieberman

Thu, 08 Mar 2012 22:52:00 +0000

No Labels, the 501(c)(4) founded and run by longtime political operatives dedicated to nonpartisan political "problem-solving" through endless moralist posturing and symbolic nonsense, sent an email to its subscribers today with the subject line "thank you." They were not thanking me (or you), though, but Sen. Joe Lieberman, the independent from Connecticut.

[caption id="attachment_12660441" align="alignleft" width="460" caption="Thank you, Joe!"][/caption]

Politico holds contest to nominate best representative of Politico’s warped worldview for president

Mon, 10 Oct 2011 18:14:00 +0000

Politico has finally revealed itself to be a devilishly deadpan satire of idiotic Beltway thought with its "POLITICO PRIMARY," an exercise in selecting a third-party "independent" candidate for president based on the only criteria that matter: fealty to the shibboleths of the political elite. I choose to believe it's a wicked parody, because the alternative -- that Politico's Internet contest to pick America's Next Top Centrist reflects the sincere beliefs of Politico's editors -- basically means that the Washington "grown-up" political class is completely divorced from reality, not just deaf to the concerns and needs of actual non-"Morning Joe"-watching Americans but wholly ignorant of the existence of a country outside their bubble.

Jim VandeHei and famous email newsletter author Mike Allen are spearheading the campaign (which has already been unfavorably reviewed by CJR). Here, they explain why America was crying out for Politico Primary:

Deficit panel guys keep yelling at all of us

Thu, 17 Mar 2011 21:01:00 +0000

The two old men who were in charge of President Obama's doomed, already long-forgotten "Deficit Panel" are currently on some sort of nationwide tour trying to get people psyched about the already rejected deficit-reduction suggestions their rigged-to-fail panel came up with. But no one is excited, so now they just keep yelling at us, the stupid American slobs too comfortable and decadent (or struggling and desperate!) to devote themselves wholly to the cause that has become the official proof of Seriousness of our age.

While everyone in the mainstream press and a number of the more obnoxious members of Congress care very much about these men and their deficit recommendations, Americans as a whole do not. This makes our men -- Alan Simpson and Erskine Bowles -- very angry! Their recent public statements have been full of vitriol and "hard truths" about what everyone will need to "learn" very soon.

What does No Labels really want?

Wed, 15 Dec 2010 01:20:00 +0000

The new centrist, anti-partisan group No Labels launched on Monday with a high-profile New York event featuring Michael Bloomberg, MSNBC's Joe Scarborough, former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist and several other prominent members of the political class. The group has drawn immediate scorn across the ideological spectrum (including from Salon), primarily for what a National Review writer summarized as "no specifics, no coherence, no point."

But we thought it only fair to give No Labels -- which has some real money behind it -- a chance to explain what it's about and to answer criticisms of its vague-sounding mission to "strengthen the mainstream." On Tuesday afternoon, Salon spoke with No Labels co-founder John Avlon, a former speechwriter to Rudy Giuliani and author of "Wingnuts: How the Lunatic Fringe Is Hijacking America." (You may also remember a bit of unrelated history between Salon and Avlon.)

The unseriousness of “No Labels”

Tue, 14 Dec 2010 13:30:00 +0000

The anti-partisanship nonprofit political organization No Labels kicked off its nationwide campaign for civility yesterday with panel discussions featuring MSNBC pundit Joe Scarborough and a theme song composed and performed by R&B superstar and conflict diamond profiteer Akon. (You are invited to use the song to create a music video, if you're a complete weirdo.)

New centrist group keeps mum on funding sources

Mon, 13 Dec 2010 19:54:00 +0000

No Labels, the new centrist pro-"common sense" advocacy group that launched at a high-profile New York conference today, will not be revealing to the public who is putting up the money for the effort.

Salon asked No Labels spokesman Adam Segal if the nonprofit group, which has reportedly raised at least $1 million so far, would reveal the sources of its funding now or in the future. Segal declined to comment on the record. That $1 million has already paid for the big conference at Columbia today, a flashy website, a new logo, and a P.R. guy. The Wall Street Journal did report the names of three wealthy donors last month (more on this below), but it's unknown how much they gave and who else is involved.

Joe Scarborough, Michael Bloomberg, Joe Lieberman to celebrate their centrism

Tue, 30 Nov 2010 23:01:00 +0000

Sanctimonious self-appointed "centrists" with no constituency outside of their social circles to launch meaningless-but-well-funded campaign in support of their admiration for themselves, Howard Fineman reports.

WASHINGTON -- TV's Joe Scarborough, who today dismissed Sarah Palin as a symbol of "anti-intellectualism" with a "dopey dream" of being president, will help headline the launch next month of a new national group dedicated to restoring civility in politics.
[...]
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is also expected to take part, along with an array of other self-described centrists, including retiring Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.), Sen. Joe Lieberman, (I-Conn.), former Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.), Rep. Chris Shays (R-Conn), Los Angeles's Democratic Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Sen. Deb Stabenow (D-Mich.), former Gov. Christie Todd Whitman (R-N.J.) and former Rep. Sherwood Boehlert (R-N.Y.)

What can you even say about that lineup besides "where's Harold Ford"?