前参议员乔·利伯曼和道格·琼斯周日出现在美国广播公司的“本周”节目中进行辩论2024年两党第三方总统候选人的可行性-以及这一努力是否会成为白宫竞争的破坏者。

代表康涅狄格州的民主党人利伯曼(Lieberman)是No Labels的创始主席，该组织正在准备一份可能的“团结”票，其中将包括两党，并为这些选民提供另一种选择对潜在的重赛不满乔·拜登总统和前总统唐纳德·特朗普。

利伯曼对《本周》节目主持人乔治·斯特凡诺普洛斯说:“我们这样做是为了给大多数觉得两大政党辜负了他们的美国人第三种选择，这两种选择都是在政策上，比如我们将于(周一)在新罕布什尔州发布的政策，但也可能是在第三位候选人身上。”“我们已经非常明确了...如果明年的民意调查显示，在两党选出各自的提名人后，事实上，我们会帮助选出一个或另一个候选人，我们不会介入。”

琼斯是阿拉巴马州的民主党人，也是拜登的坚定盟友，他加入了一个反对无标签的团体，拒绝接受这种想法。

“那些民调现在没有任何意义，”他回击利伯曼，指的是拜登和特朗普都保持沉默。“在过去的这个周末，你看到拜登-哈里斯团队筹集了7000万美元，其中30%是新的捐赠者，”琼斯补充说。“这不是一个被美国人民拒绝的候选人。”

对于没有标签，他说，“在上帝的绿色地球上，他们不可能获得270张选举人票，这意味着他们将以某种方式成为破坏者。”

并非如此，利伯曼坚持说。他说，问题不在于没有标签。“问题是美国人民不再买两党卖的东西了。我认为各方考虑这一点会更明智。”

利伯曼自己也有面对第三方竞选的经验:作为2000年民主党副总统候选人，他和总统候选人戈尔在佛罗里达州以几百票之差失利，而绿党的拉尔夫·纳德在该州获得了近10万张选票，利伯曼当时称任何投给纳德的票实际上都是投给对手乔治·w·布什的票。

在没有标签的问题上出现了针锋相对的观点，因为民主党人担心该组织的计划——它说明年将由一名民主党人和一名共和党人组成同一张选票——是否更有可能剥离心怀不满的共和党选民，他们明年将投票支持拜登，与特朗普进行纯粹的正面交锋。

利伯曼周日表示，如果民主党人和共和党人都信奉中间派，没有任何标签会推迟其竞选活动。

“我们一直说，我们不渴望运行第三方票。如果一个或两个政党在政策上更倾向于中间路线...也许考虑到两位候选人在美国人民中如此不受欢迎，我们不会参加竞选。

在这张2011年7月18日的资料照片中，没有标签的人们在华盛顿国会山的集会上举着标语

杰奎琳·马丁/美联社，档案

琼斯说，拜登已经有了一个更温和的选择，他提到了总统与国会共和党议员的合作。

琼斯说:“看看他做了些什么，把基础设施一揽子计划整合在一起，几十年来第一次整合在一起进行基础设施建设，为[退伍军人]契约法案，为[制造业]芯片法案。

“我不知道为什么世界上有人认为乔·拜登的政府非常左，不像唐纳德·特朗普或其他人那样是一个极右分子，”他说。

在采访和公开声明中，该集团一再坚持认为，尽管民意调查证明2024年有第三种选择的欲望，但如果他们是错的，没有任何标签会“走下坡路”。

“那有点违背人性，不是吗?一旦竞选开始，就很难停止，”斯特凡诺普洛斯在“本周”节目中敦促利伯曼

“美国人民不喜欢两党的所作所为，”利伯曼回应道。"他们尤其不喜欢他们似乎已经决定提名的两位候选人."

然而，琼斯不同意没有标签在公众监督之外运作。

“他们没有透露他们的捐赠者。他们没有遵守同样的规则，”他说。(一名“无标签”发言人此前告诉美国广播公司新闻:“我们从不分享我们支持者的名字，因为我们生活在一个极右和极左煽动者和党派特工试图通过攻击他们的个人支持者来摧毁和恐吓他们不喜欢的组织的时代。”)

琼斯周日批评说，没有标签也可以把它的票——不是通过一系列的公开初选，而是通过幕后讨论，削弱了利伯曼正在做的推销。

“那不太民主。这不是一个选择，”他说。"这是一个错误的选择，实际上是对他们正在做的事情的错觉。"

甚至一些共和党人也对无标签的可行性表示怀疑，指出第三方候选人过去未能合法入主白宫。该组织在所有50个州争取投票的努力也遇到了障碍。

“我认为这是徒劳的差事。...我不是来表演的。你知道，我这样做不是为了表明观点。我参加这次竞选是为了当选美国总统，”前新泽西州长克里斯·克里斯蒂说，他正在以共和党人的身份竞选总统，在“本周”节目中说

“只有两个人会在2024年11月当选美国总统——共和党总统候选人和民主党总统候选人。"

Joe Lieberman, Doug Jones face-off over No Labels' chances with a 'unity' ticket in 2024

Former Sens. Joe Lieberman and Doug Jones appeared Sunday on ABC's "This Week" to debatethe viability of a bipartisan third-party presidential ticket in 2024-- and whether that effort could serve as a spoiler in the race for the White House.

Lieberman, a Democrat-turned-independent who represented Connecticut, is the founding chair of No Labels, which is preparing a possible "unity" ticket that would include both parties and offer, he said, another option for those votersdissatisfied with a potential rematchbetween President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.

"We're in this to give the majority of the American people who feel that the major two parties are failing them a third choice, both in policies, such as we're going to release in New Hampshire [on Monday], but also possibly in a third candidate," Lieberman told "This Week" anchor George Stephanopoulos. "And we've been very explicit ... If the polling next year shows, after the two parties have chosen their nominees, that, in fact, we will help elect one or another candidate, we're not going to get involved."

Jones, an Alabama Democrat and staunch Biden ally who has joined a group to counter No Labels, rejected that thinking.

"Those polls right now mean nothing," he shot back at Lieberman, referencing reticence for both Biden and Trump. "This past weekend, you saw that the Biden-Harris team raised $70 million, 30% of those were new donors," Jones added. "That is not a candidate that is being rejected by the American people."

Of No Labels, he said, "There is no way on God's green earth that they can get to 270 electoral votes, which means they will be a spoiler, one way or another."

Not so, Lieberman insisted. The problem wasn't No Labels, he said. "The problem is the American people are not buying what the two parties are selling anymore. And I think the parties would be wiser to think about that."

Lieberman has experience facing third party bids himself: As the Democratic vice-presidential nominee in 2000, he and presidential hopeful Al Gore lost Florida by a few hundred votes in a state where the Green Party's Ralph Nader got nearly 100,000 ballots, with Lieberman at the time calling any vote for Nader actually a vote for opponent George W. Bush.

The dueling views on No Labels come amid Democratic handwringing over whether the group's plan -- which it says would comprise of one Democrat and one Republican on the same ticket next year -- is more likely to peel off disaffected Republican voters who would vote for Biden in a pure head-to-head with Trump next year.

Lieberman said Sunday that No Labels would hold off on its campaign if Democrats and Republicans both embrace centrism.

"We have said all along that we're not yearning to run a third-party ticket. If one or both parties move more toward the center in their policies ... and maybe think about the two candidates being so unpopular among the American people, we won't run," he said.

Jones said there was already a more moderate option available in Biden, noting the president's cooperation with Republican lawmakers in Congress.

"Look at what he has done, bringing the infrastructure package together, pulling that together for the first time in decades to do infrastructure, for the PACT Act [for veterans], the CHIPS Act [for manufacturing]," Jones said.

"I don't know why in the world somebody thinks that Joe Biden's administration is so far left, unlike a Donald Trump or someone else that is an extreme right," he argued.

In interviews and public statements, the group has repeatedly insisted that while polling proves there's an appetite for a third option in 2024, No Labels would take an "off ramp" if they are wrong.

"That sort of runs against human nature, doesn't it? Once a campaign starts, it's hard to stop," Stephanopoulos pressed Lieberman on "This Week."

"The American people don't like what the two parties are doing," Lieberman responded. "And they particularly don't like the two candidates that they seem set on nominating."

Jones, however, took issue with No Labels largely operating outside of public scrutiny.

"They're not disclosing their donors. They're not playing by the same rules," he said. (A No Labels spokesperson previously told ABC News: "We never share the names of our supporters because we live in an era where far-right and far-left agitators and partisan operatives try to destroy and intimidate organizations they don't like by attacking their individual supporters.")

Jones on Sunday criticized how No Labels might also put together its ticket -- not through a series of public primaries but through back-room discussions that undercut the very pitch Lieberman was making.

"That's not very democratic. That's not a choice," he said. "It's a false choice and really an illusion as to what they're doing."

Even some Republicans have cast doubts on No Labels' viability, pointing to past failures by third-party candidates to make a legitimate run at the White House. The group has also faced roadblocks in its effort to get access to the ballot in all 50 states.

"I think it’s a fool’s errand. ... I’m not in this for show time. I’m not in this, you know, for making a point. I’m in this to get elected president of the United States," former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who is running for the White House as a Republican,said on "This Week."

"And there are only two people who will get elected president of the United States in November of '24 -- the Republican nominee for president, and the Democratic nominee for president."