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AMNA NAWAZ: With the rematch 
between President Joe##

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Biden and former President 
Donald# 
Trump officially set, 
third-party##

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candidates and well-funded 
organizations# 
are attempting to carve out 
their own paths.

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Geoff Bennett recently took a 
closer look.

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GEOFF BENNETT: No third-party or 
independent# 
candidate has received more than 
19 percent of##

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the vote in modern history. 
Still, the effort# 
to field an alternative ticket 
is under way.

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White House correspondent Laura 
Barron-Lopez# 
has been following all of this 
and joins us now.

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So, Laura, remind us who these# 
third-party candidates are and##

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which ones are actually gaining 
traction.

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LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Right.

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Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Cornel 
West. Then,# 
when it comes to potential third 
parties,##

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No Labels,they don't have a# 
candidate yet. Green Party,##

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candidate is to be determined. 
Libertarian# 
Party, the candidate is also to 
be determined.

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But when it comes to them 
getting ballot# 
access, a number of them are. 
So, currently,##

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there is at least one 
third-party# 
or independent candidate from 
that##

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list that I mentioned on the 
ballot in 44# 
states so far. But, when you 
take a look at##

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the battleground states that 
will ultimately# 
be the states that determine 
this election,##

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a third-party candidate is on 
the ballot in# 
all seven of those battleground 
states, Geoff.

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GEOFF BENNETT: Of the candidates 
you mentioned,##

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Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is 
arguably the best# 
known. What kind of pr..

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LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: RFK Jr. has 
been# 
receiving about 19 percent of 
voter##

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support in the polls so far. 
And# 
he's pulling right now in 
those##

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polls from both President Biden# 
and former President Donald 
Trump.

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He's expected to announce a 
vice# 
presidential candidate on March 
26 in##

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Oakland. He's struggled to get 
on a number of# 
the ballots across states. But, 
despite that,##

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Democrats really see him as a 
threat to their# 
candidate more so than 
Republicans do. The##

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Democratic National Committee is 
heavily focusing# 
on RFK Jr. right now, because 
they see him,##

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as you said, this candidate with 
the biggest# 
name I.D., the Kennedy name 
behind him.

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And they are going to be 
highlighting over# 
and over again the conspiracy 
theories that##

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he has embraced, whether that's 
saying that# 
chemicals in the water turn 
people transgender##

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or his big anti-vaccine 
platform, which,# 
again, there's no evidence 
there, Geoff,##

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that vaccines are harmful to 
people or# 
of his any other conspiracy 
theories.

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GEOFF BENNETT: We have seen the 
political# 
group No Labels spend a lot of 
money trying##

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to field their own candidate. 
They still# 
don't have a ticket. Where does 
that stand?

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LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: This week, 
they# 
selected a nominating committee 
to##

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pick that presidential 
candidate, which# 
they said they aimed to pick by 
April.

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And when I talked to No Labels, 
they said they# 
aren't doing this because they 
want to be a##

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spoiler, that they're doing this 
because# 
of the fact that they see two 
candidates,##

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leading candidates, that have 
low# 
approval rating. But they push##

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back on the accusations against 
them# 
that this is simply a spoiler 
effort.

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RYAN CLANCY, Chief Strategist, 
No Labels:# 
The idea that any of us are 
going to put##

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our careers on the line and our 
reputations# 
on the line so we can be part of 
a shadow##

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effort to help Donald Trump is a 
joke. That's# 
not what this is about. What 
this is about##

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is providing a choice to the 
public that# 
both parties absolutely refuse 
to provide.

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LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Still, 
Geoff, after# 
starting this effort nearly two 
years ago,##

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No Labels has not been able to 
find a presidential# 
candidate, and some of their 
leading contenders,##

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like former Republican Governor 
of Maryland# 
Larry Hogan and Democratic 
Senator Joe Manchin,##

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have said that they have no 
interest# 
in mounting a third-party bid.

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GEOFF BENNETT: It seems to be 
the Democrats,##

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Laura, who are most concerned 
about a# 
third-party candidate siphoning 
off votes##

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from President Biden. How are 
Democrats# 
in the Biden campaign responding 
to this?

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LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Democrats 
are reacting# 
to this in a way that they never 
have before,##

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Geoff. They say that they're not 
going to# 
make the same mistakes that were 
made in 2016.

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And the Democratic National 
Committee has# 
a team dedicated to combating a 
third-party##

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threat now. There was a new 
super PAC called Clear# 
Choice that was launched by 
Biden allies to also##

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confront this. And then there's 
this -- these# 
Democratic outside groups across 
the spectrum,##

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whether it's the progressives at 
MoveOn or# 
the more moderate Democrats at 
Third Way,##

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that are really trying to tackle 
this.

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And they say that, ultimately, 
right# 
now, their focus is on trying 
to##

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persuade potential high-profile 
candidates# 
that may mount a bid to not do 
so. But,##

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come summer, they are going to# 
be heavily focused on 
educating##

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voters about what they say is 
the big# 
threat of a third-party 
candidacy.

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MATT BENNETT, Co-Founder, Third 
Way: If they throw# 
away their vote and cast it for 
a third-party##

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candidate who has no hope of 
winning, they are,# 
in essence, helping Donald 
Trump, because Trump##

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has no way of winning a two-way 
race. He cannot# 
get anywhere close to 50 percent 
of the vote, but##

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he can win a multicandidate race 
if people throw# 
away their votes and vote for 
people like Kennedy.

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But between Kennedy and No 
Labels and# 
the others, there is an enormous 
risk.

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LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Geoff,# 
that risk that Matt Bennett##

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is talking about is something 
that# 
the Biden campaign is well aware 
of.

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But, right now, Biden and 
advisers# 
say that they are heavily 
focused##

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on making this a binary choice,# 
about they just want to present 
to##

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voters that this race is 
ultimately# 
between Donald Trump and Joe 
Biden.

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Now, if we see, come summer, 
that a viable or# 
a potential third-party 
candidate can pose a##

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significant threat to President 
Joe Biden, then# 
sources close to Biden will tell 
me that you##

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could very well see the Biden 
campaign or# 
other Democratic groups start to 
push out##

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testimonials from voters that 
voted in 2016# 
for a Green Party candidate like 
Jill Stein##

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and then saw that sway the 
ultimate result# 
in key states like Michigan and 
Wisconsin.

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GEOFF BENNETT: That's an 
interesting strategy.

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How are voters responding to# 
all of this right ..

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any of these candidates actually 
making# 
headway among general election 
voters?

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LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: I have 
talked to# 
some potential swing voters in 
states##

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like Arizona who say that 
they're curious about a# 
third-party candidacy or an 
independent candidate.

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Sarah Longwell, a Republican 
pollster# 
who does focus groups with a 
number of##

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independent and swing voters, 
says# 
that some voters have 
expressed##

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concern that a third-party or 
independent# 
candidate may not be totally 
realistic.

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WOMAN: If I could only pick 
between# 
Trump and Biden, I would go 
Biden,##

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but if there's other people out 
there, I'm# 
definitely going to look at 
them. However,##

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I also feel like a lot of times 
it's a# 
throwaway vote. Then maybe Trump 
would get in.

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MAN: I think that No Labels# 
thing is very idealist. Like,##

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oh, wouldn't this be nice to 
have kind of a# 
moderate ticket? Not pragmatic. 
It's not -- we##

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always complain about the 
two-party# 
system, but there's no way to 
beat it.

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LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Still, 
Longwell told me# 
that a lot of GOP voters who 
voted for Nikki##

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Haley in the Republican primary, 
which are# 
voters that President Joe Biden 
is going to##

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be targeting, that they are 
potentially# 
susceptible to a third-party 
candidate,##

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especially if it's a Republican# 
that's leading that ticket.

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And again, Geoff, as you well 
know,##

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that could have a significant 
impact at# 
the margins in those 
battleground states.

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GEOFF BENNETT: Absolutely.

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Laura Barron-Lopez, thanks..

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LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Thank you.