Do we really want Biden vs. Trump again? Americans need a third choice for president.

America needs a backup plan for the 2024 presidential election. So far, the runup to campaign season is unfolding like a disaster movie in slow motion.

We have Donald Trump, hellbent on vengeance, back in the media spotlight where he thrives, while Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney who can’t keep his own city safe, is helping to ensure he gets the GOP nomination.

We have Democrats cheering for the chance to face off against Trump again, who they assume is eminently beatable despite having lost to him once and barely squeaked by a second time — and despite pinning all their hopes on Joe Biden.

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Then we have the American people facing the prospect of choosing, for a second time, between two candidates they don’t like — candidates intent on ignoring the many voters who appreciate old-fashioned things like cooperation and problem solving.

If anyone needed further proof that our two-party system is in crisis, a Trump vs. Biden rematch is it. Putting all our eggs in the Biden basket is an unacceptable gamble when losing would mean the second coming of Trump.

Biden, for all his strengths, has a dangerously low approval rating, is facing severe headwinds from inflation and a potential recession, has one of the least popular vice presidents of the past century and seems unwilling to stand up to the gravitational forces pulling him leftward.

We need a true centrist, 'unity' candidate. No Labels is working on it

America needs a Plan B in the form of a centrist presidential ticket. The organization No Labels is already working on it by securing a third line on the presidential ballot in all 50 states. While there is no candidate tied to the effort yet, No Labels has proposed a “unity ticket” featuring a moderate Democrat and a moderate Republican as running mates.

No Labels will invoke this ticket only if the two major parties continue to abandon the silent majority come Super Tuesday of next year, when it will be clear whether a Trump vs. Biden rematch is imminent. At that time, No Labels would pull from its deep benches in both parties (the organization founded the prominent Problem Solvers Caucus in Congress, which has many household-name members) to assemble its centrist unity ticket.

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The numbers are on the side of this unity ticket, with almost 60% of Americans saying they would consider a moderate independent in the event of a Trump vs. Biden rematch. The ticket might need just over one-third of the vote to win. You wouldn't know it from listening to the media, but more Americans identify as independents than as either Democrats or Republicans.

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Florida shows what happens when voters must chose between extremes

As a former Democratic mayor of Miami Beach, and a one-time candidate for Florida governor, I can see in my own state how this would benefit the electorate. In the Florida governor's race last year, we watched a very left leaning candidate against an extreme right candidate, and because there was no centrist in the race, the extreme right won big. If there had been a centrist candidate, I believe Ron DeSantis would not be in office today. Most Floridians are not extreme partisans. They simply had nowhere else to take their votes.

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The only cure for polarization is a solution in the middle. America has had third parties in the past, from Teddy Roosevelt’s Bull Moose Party to Ross Perot’s campaign in the early 1990s. They lost for reasons that do not apply today, but even when they lost, they still won by moving the other parties toward the middle.

The fact that our leaders can’t get anything done on the issues that matter most, like crime, immigration and inflation, is a sign of a deep need for a shock to the system. Joe Biden is not it. Donald Trump is not it. Both have had their shot in the White House; yet, here we are. That’s why Americans are desperate for a third option.

No Labels has pledged to provide it unless either or both parties make an earnest attempt to move to the middle. Absent that miracle, the three-way race will be on. Not only will millions of Americans be relieved to have a Plan B, but it just might save the nation from a final, fatal descent into partisan madness.

Philip Levine, a cruise industry entrepreneur, is a former two-term mayor of Miami Beach and one-time Democratic candidate for governor of Florida. 

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Biden vs. Trump in 2024? Give us a break. Voters need an alternative.