Zoom out: No Labels’ previous plan was to use the period between Super Tuesday on March 5 and the Dallas convention that had been set for April 14-15 to listen to supporters and then make a final decision on whether to launch a third-party ticket.

If a decision had been reached to move forward, the goal was to use the convention to select a unity ticket — one Republican and one Democrat — then slingshot them into the presidential contest with fanfare and free media.

“We already have scheduled a bipartisan convention. Think about it. We haven’t seen that ever in recent history,” former Sen. Joe Lieberman, co-chair of No Labels, said on “Fox News Sunday” in August. “A bipartisan nominating convention for Dallas, Texas, in April of next year.”

[And we stil haven’t seen it, I suppose. However, other lesser parties hold their own conventions, including the Greens and the Libertarians. The fact that No Labels is pulling the plug on their plans after touting them as evidence of seriousness speaks to the ad-hoc and ego-stroking nature of this venture. — Ed]