(FiveNation.com)- It’s been almost 200 years since the United States had a third political party that was viable in the country.
A group of former politicians is hoping to change that by starting a new party, called the Forward Party (FWD). The leaders of the group are former Republican New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman, former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang and former Republican Representative David Jolly.
The three politicians announced the new political party via an opinion piece they wrote for The Washington Post. In doing so, they explained why they felt the country needs an alternative to Republicans and Democrats.
They wrote:
“Political extremism is ripping our nation apart, and the two major parties have failed to remedy the crisis. Last week, the House select committee investigating the January 6 attack at the Capitol led us to relive one of the darkest days in U.S. history.
“The chilling culmination of an attempted electoral coup in the United States was the strongest evidence yet that we are facing the potential demise of our democracy … If nothing is done, the United States will not reach its 300th birthday.
“Americans have lost faith in government. How do you remedy such a crisis? In a system torn apart by two increasingly divided extremes, you must reintroduce choice and competition.
“The United States badly needs a new political party — one that reflects the moderate, common-sense majority. Today’s outdated parties have failed by catering to the fringes.”
The three founders of FWD are hoping to attract the attention of what they believe is the average American — people who aren’t as serious about issues such as abortion, student loan forgiveness, immigration and gun control as the media sometimes makes citizens out to be.
They are staking their flag in the sand in hoping that voters who would fit into what they term as “non-extremists” on either side of the political spectrum might be interested in what they have to say.
As they explained in their op-ed:
“The two major parties have hollowed out the sensible center of our political system — even though that’s where most voters want to see them move. A new party must stake out the space in between. On every issue facing this nation — from the controversial to the mundane — we can find a reasonable approach most Americans agree on.
“On guns, for instance, most Americans don’t agree with calls from the far left to confiscate all guns and repeal the Second Amendment, but they’re also rightfully worried by the far right’s insistence on eliminating gun laws … On abortion, most Americans don’t agree with the far left’s extreme views on late-term abortions, but they also are alarmed by the far right’s quest to make a woman’s choice a criminal offense.”
The group makes valid points, but the real challenge for them is — will they be able to make enough headlines to break through the noise and have an impact? Or, rather, will they be able to overcome the fact that so much money is being pumped into the two political parties by organizations that support some of these “extreme” issues they’re talking about?
