Image Credit: Official Forward Party / Facebook
By Bethany Blankley [The Center Square contributor] –
Republican and Democratic politicians have created a third political party, the Forward Party, arguing “more unites us than divides us,” according to its website.
“The rigid, top-down, one-size-fits-all platforms of the outdated political parties are drifting toward the fringes, making solutions impossible,” they argue. “We stand for doing, not dividing. That means rejecting the far Left and far Right and pursuing common ground.”
The party “celebrates diverse viewpoints and creativity – welcoming Democrats, Republicans, and Independents who are committed to rejecting the extremes and solving problems.”
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It was founded by Democrat Andrew Yang, who ran for New York City mayor in 2021 and for president in 2020, former Republican New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, and former Republican Florida Congressman David Jolly.
In an op-ed published in the Washington Post, the founders argued that “most third parties have failed” and their party won’t because it will unity the “majority of Americans who want to move past divisiveness and reject extremism.”
Third parties that failed did so “because they were ideologically too narrow or the population was uninterested.” They point to a Gallup poll published last February that found 62% said a third party was needed, up from 57% last September.
According to the poll, “a record-high 63% of Republicans favor a third party” and roughly half of those surveyed consider themselves independents.
The leaders of the new party say that of the more than 500,000 elected positions nationwide, many could be won by Forward Party candidates. According to a recent study, more than 70% of races on ballots in 2020 were unopposed or uncontested, and only a fraction of congressional races will be close in November, perhaps suggesting there is an opportunity for third party candidates to win these races.
The new party’s leaders are inviting people of all political backgrounds to join the Forward Party “without abandoning their existing political affiliations.” They plan to hold a national convention next summer.
Forward politicians “will spend the 2020s and beyond working to repair America’s broken political system,” they say on their website. The party will also apply to be on the ballot in every state and first run candidates in 2024. They are “actively recruiting” former members of Congress, governors, entrepreneurs, political operatives and community leaders.
About the Author: Bethany Blankley is a writer at the Center Square, Patheos/Hedgerow, political analyst and former press secretary at Capitol Hill / NY / WDC. Follow Bethany on Twitter @BethanyBlankley.
5 Responses
It’s usually conservatives who out of frustration with the Republican Party are tempted to disappear into the irrelevance of the nowhere land of third party politics so it’s good to see centrists succumbing to the same temptation. May many, many centrist/tepid conservative Republicans be attracted to the Forward Party by the siren song “Can’t we All Work Together” and that old favorite “Let’s Get Something Done” as possible so we conservatives can more easily move the Republican Party rightward, rightward, relentlessly rightward.
This is good comedy… Anyone with two functioning brain cells knows that the establishment Dems and RINOs (republicans) have been the same party for decades. Why beat around the bush? Be real and call it what it is – the Uniparty!
Clowns to the of me, jokers to the right, here I am, stuck in middle with you! This would just end up being the third leg of the uniparty.
The Constitution should drive any party. We’ll see how this one abides by it.
The same thing was being said in 1980 by John Anderson and his National Unity Party. We’ll find out how long this one will last.