Biden allies plot to thwart third party bids that threaten his reelection
By Jarrett Renshaw
CHEYENNE, Wyoming (Reuters) — American Bridge is the Democratic Party’s primary opposition research organization, spending tens of millions of dollars to track Republican rivals and produce attack ads.
But in 2024, the deep-pocketed ally of President Joe Biden is adding a new role that could help shape the Nov. 5 presidential election: third-party suppressor.
Worried that third-party bids from a centrist group called No Labels and anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. could siphon off votes from Biden in key states like Pennsylvania, Michigan and Arizona, American Bridge has hired prominent election attorney Marc Elias to help thwart these outsider bids, among other things.
A central tactic employed: flagging technical issues or starting a legal challenge as third-party candidates navigate a patchwork of laws of get on state ballots.
«We're keeping an eye out to make sure they're dotting all their i's and crossing their t's, and we are not ruling out legal action with our attorneys if we identify a problem — and that applies for all third party threats to President Biden,» Pat Denis, president of the American Bridge group, said in a statement to Reuters.
Other Biden allies have also launched a multi-pronged assault to starve third party candidates of financial and political support. In addition to trying to keep them off state ballots, they say they are asking donors not to send them money and warning potential candidates to stay on the sidelines, according to interviews with groups involved in the efforts.
U.S. demand for a third party presidential candidate has reached record highs amid deep voter dissatisfaction with 81-year-old Biden and his likely Republican rival Donald Trump. A
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