But this year, Democrats are clear: They do not want a rerun of 2016, when third-party candidates got millions of v**es, leading many political observers to say even today that those v**es helped Trump defeat Hillary Clinton.
This time, Democrats are prepared. The Biden campaign and the political apparatus hoping to defeat Trump are taking third-party candidates seriously — a stark difference from the Democratic Party in 2016.
Before the third-party candidates get on a significant number of state b****ts (and before some candidates are even set), Democrats have started to organize:
The Democratic National Committee has a dedicated staff, including veteran strategist Lis Smith, working to defeat third-party candidates. They have filed complaints about alleged violations of campaign law by the super PAC American Values 2024, which is backing independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., to the Federal E******n Commission.
In a memo provided exclusively to The Early, center-left think tank Third Way, which opposes a Trump presidency, debunked moderate group No Labels’ claim that its prospective “unity ticket” will drop out if it appears the bid would benefit Trump, calling the group’s “off-ramp” a “fantasy.”
Third Way has filed complaints to secretaries of state about the super PAC backing Kennedy.
American Bridge, the Democratic opposition research group, is tracking third-party candidates closely.
“Allies of President Biden have formed a super PAC called Clear Choice, aimed stopping any third-party or independent candidates from gaining traction before the November e******n,” our colleague Michael Scherer reports this morning.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/03/14/democrats-are-taking-third-party-threats-seriously-this-time/But this year, Democrats are clear: They do not wa... (