Forwardists come from all different backgrounds and from all along the political spectrum. If timing is everything, we have picked the right time to offer a principled, reasonable choice outside the two-party system.  “Over the last three decades, increasing numbers of voters left the Democratic and Republican parties, declaring themselves independents or members of other parties. Many millennial and Gen Z voters have never registered for a party.”  

As we build this movement, our diverse perspectives are our strength. Approaching issues from shared goals is a new way to build a political party. We’d love to hear what you think!

Uncertainty is all around us. Danielle Belton, Editor of the Huffington Post, says, “everything is on fire right now and nothing, absolutely nothing is well.”

Author Brian Klass says we are stuck in a “dystopian loop.”

A weekend of national celebration ended tragically in a Chicago suburb. Details are still emerging at the time of this publication, but it seems as if we can barely recover from one tragedy when another hits. Even before this new assault on our sense of security, a new study had identified that people around the world are turned off by the news. Bad news, not surprisingly, puts people in a bad mood. Here in the U.S., and across the world, we have faced an onslaught of headlines that feel urgent, frightening, and often just plain sad. 

THE DUOPOLY DIVIDES

We are living in an era when a former Lieutenant General in the U.S. Army and National Security Advisor, Michael Flynn, could not confirm under oath that he supports the peaceful transfer of power. An era in which a White House aide, Secret Service agents, members of Congress, and candidates for state and local offices are exposing a web of indecency, or weaving one in order to keep driving a wedge between the left and the right. Kari Lake, candidate in the Republican gubernatorial primary in Arizona, says it’s “disqualifying” for her opponent to not declare the 2020 election stolen. A pro-Democratic PAC is publishing lies about GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert. At least one candidate, the Republican nominee for governor of Pennsylvania, Doug Mastriano, benefited from a new Democratic tactic to raise the profile of “fringe” Republicans in the hopes that the scales will tip to the left in the general election with an extremist on the ballot. If politics used to be perceived as a shady mess of backroom deals, nowadays, political war strategies have become normalized, and with the American people so divided, many simply don’t care – as long as their “side” wins.

The system of checks and balances is failing us as the two parties actively employ open collaboration among those branches in their control to wield influence over policy. The New York Times reports that we are a Nation Divided Along a Red-Blue Axis, made all the more so by a Supreme Court that “has embraced a muscular states-rights federalism.” Despite a careful plan for such checks and balances in our Constitution, exerting such a check against another branch of government leads to a conundrum for partisans of a two-party system. If one party sets a precedent for checking the balance, such a check may well work to the advantage of the other party once power swings back the other way. 

With all the bad news and, perhaps especially for those whose beliefs are shaken by evidence, many Americans are putting their heads in the sand. Sen. Mitt Romney writes, “Congress is particularly disappointing: Our elected officials put a finger in the wind more frequently than they show backbone against it. Too often, Washington demonstrates the maxim that for evil to thrive only requires good men to do nothing.”   

SILVER LININGS

Good news is hard to come by, but on the bright side, election denial was a losing message in Colorado, as centrist Republicans swept statewide primaries last week. Also, the supremely qualified Ketanji Brown Jackson was sworn in to become the first Black female Supreme Court Justice. And we are happy to announce that open primaries and ranked-choice voting will be on the ballot in Nevada in November. 

But a storm is brewing on the horizon, and 2024 promises a lot of political turmoil. It’s two years away, but Joe Biden apparently is not just signaling that he will run again, but is “restocking his operation in battleground states” and working to garner support and loyalty as conversation swirls that Democrats might look for another candidate.

On the Republican side, more hopefuls are stepping up to potentially run in the GOP primary.  With some pressure from megadonors to back away from Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Sen. Ted Cruz, and Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan appear on the short list.

In the meantime, more primaries are coming up, and despite all the bad news, the Forward Party is forging ahead to create a new political home for all those weary of polarization and cynical partisan gamesmanship. It’s time to nominate and elect principled, solutions-oriented leaders.