by SCOTT THUMAN | The National Desk Mon, September 11th 2023, 4:01 PM EDT | View Article on TND
WASHINGTON (TND) — If you don’t love the current options running for president and like the idea of a third party—you’re not alone.
Especially, as polling shows a staggering 67 percent of Democrats or left-leaning voters don’t want President Biden as their nominee.
Andrew Yang who ran for president against Biden as a Democrat in 2020, but even then self-described as “not left or right” is now co-chair of the “Forward Party” and believes the two-party system isn’t working.
The two-party system is going to evolve one way or another, Scott. It’s either going to evolve in a way we’re happy and excited about or a way that we’re not excited about.
His new book, “The Last Election” focuses on such scenarios and voters’ growing appetite for something else.
“Americans say they want change,” chief political correspondent Scott Thuman asked Yang, “but they keep voting R and D, don’t they?”
Yang responded, “Well, Scott–we haven’t given them much of a choice? Here’s my comparison. It’s like running around saying no one likes cookies and creams where you’re only allowed to order chocolate or vanilla from the menu. It’s nonsense.”
“So, let’s give people a menu that actually gives them real choice and say you can vote for whomever you like without hurting any one party.”
Yang advocates for “ranked voting” to help fix that as 47 percent say they’d consider voting for a third-party candidate.
A recent report in The Hill explains though how another potential option on the ballot, is reportedly, “exacerbating unease that liberal candidate Cornel West or a centrist contender backed by No Labels could end up being spoilers for Biden.”
West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin and former republican Maryland Governor Larry Hogan are among those mentioned for a split ticket.
Hogan, recently telling CBS news, “Nobody’s trying to spoil anything. This is about actually receiving a majority of the votes. And I would say the last time we had somewhat of a successful third party run, it was Ross Perot, who dropped out of the race and had all kinds of problems and came back in and still was at about 20%.”
Perot’s efforts in the early 90’s was a factor, just like some argued Green Party candidate Jill Stein may have hurt Hillary Clinton’s campaign in 2016, allowing Trump to take key battleground states.
“If it’s so logical, why hasn’t it happened yet?,” Thuman asked Yang.
Yang replied, “Where are we? We’re in DC right now. And you have to ask yourself, who is upset with the status quo and who wants things to continue as they are? A lot of Americans know that it’s not working and we want something new. But if you’re here in DC you’ve got the blue team and the red team and most people work for one or the other and they just shrug and say, ‘hey, I like things the way they are’.”