No Labels, the bipartisan group plotting an independent presidential campaign, is claiming that a new poll — commissioned by Democratic and Republican strategists determined to stop them — actually bolsters their case.

Why it matters: No Labels' response to the survey — which shows a moderate third-party candidate at roughly 20% in a three-way race with President Biden and former President Trump — is another indication that the deep-pocketed group isn’t going away.

"Their poll validates our strategy and what we’ve been saying all along — there’s an unprecedented opening for the independent ticket, a lot of room to grow and a viable path to victory," Dritan Nesho, chief pollster at No Labels, told Axios.

"It's a real insurance strategy given the weakness of and dissatisfaction with the major party candidates, especially Biden," he said.

Driving the news: No Labels is giving every indication that their leaders are dead-set on launching a third party campaign, with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) scheduled to headline a No Labels town hall in New Hampshire on July 17.

Alarmed — a collection of former Republican and Democratic lawmakers and top party strategists — are forming a new group, led by former House Democratic Leader Dick Gephardt, to stop them, as the Washington Post reported Tuesday.

But first the strategists wanted their own data and commissioned a poll that included 2,200 likely national voters and then 500 voters in seven swing states.

What they're saying: "When the poll came back, it confirmed our worst fears," said Joe Trippi, a veteran Democratic strategist. "It sped up the decision to form a committee and start doing what we can, to make clear the danger of what No Labels represents."