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John --
Most Americans know something’s broken. Toxic
partisanship, closed primaries, and gerrymandered districts have left
voters frustrated and powerless -- watching yet another government
shutdown while politicians play the same old game. The truth is, the
system is designed to protect the two major parties, not the people
they’re supposed to serve.
In an op-ed in Saturday's Boston Globe, Forward Party
CEO Lindsey Drath lays out how we fix it. In
her powerful and inspiring piece, she explains how the nation needs an
alternative party now more than ever and how Forward is building a
real alternative; one rooted in accountability, collaboration, and
common sense, and not a spoiler party. Lindsey also makes the case for
Forward as a movement to replace dysfunction with problem-solvers and
give every voter a true choice. She demonstrates how Forward's fulcrum
strategy in Congress can put an end to the type of partisan gridlock
that has led to this extended shutdown. It is a great thought piece
on "Why Forward and Why Now."
The op-ed is behind a paywall, but the full text is pasted
below.
OPINION: A choice for Americans tired of political gridlock
We’re not just offering an alternative party. We’re working
for a better system.
By Lindsey Williams Drath
The current structures of America’s political
system encourage toxic polarization, extreme policy positions, and
blatant self-interest. No wonder we find ourselves in the midst of a
government shutdown. All the while, the majority of voters yearn for
good government and true representation.
Americans are deeply dissatisfied with our
politics. More than half the respondents in a
recent poll believe we are in a constitutional crisis, only half
believe our government is a democracy, and more than 60 percent favor a viable third-party
alternative. While congressional approval sits
at roughly 26 percent, most individual members
are reelected at a staggering rate of more than 96 percent.
The dissatisfied majority is vastly underrepresented by current
elected leaders. Independents now consistently outnumber registered
Republicans or Democrats nationally. Meanwhile, the two major parties
dominate redistricting measures and control election rules that
effectively lock out alternatives.
This is why the Forward Party was founded: By giving Americans
disappointed with the status quo a real choice, we can populate town
halls, state capitols, and Congress with principled lawmakers
committed to country over party and solutions over partisan
gridlock.
What would the halls of the Capitol have looked like last month if
a dozen members of Congress elected outside of the two-party system
had held out their votes until Republicans and Democrats came together
and compromised to explore an extension of the Affordable Care Act tax
subsidies? This is an issue that 77 percent of Americans can agree on,
and yet that did not happen.
There are about 520,000 elected offices in the United States. In
2024, 70 percent of races examined by Ballotpedia ran uncontested.
Combine that with the fact that only 69 out of 435 US House seats are
competitive, with 85 percent of seats decidedly red or blue, and we
see a map of America with little real political competition.
The current structures of America’s political system encourage
toxic polarization, extreme policy positions, and blatant
self-interest. No wonder we find ourselves in the midst of a
government shutdown. All the while, the majority of voters yearn for
good government and true representation.
Americans are deeply dissatisfied with our politics. More than half
the respondents in a recent poll believe we are in a constitutional
crisis, only half believe our government is a democracy, and more than
60 percent favor a viable third-party alternative. While congressional
approval sits at roughly 26 percent, most individual members are
reelected at a staggering rate of more than 96 percent.
In uncompetitive congressional districts, the party not in power
has all but given up, leaving voters no choice at the ballot box.
Beyond congressional districts, entire states have been deemed blue or
red. The Democratic Party isn’t investing in serious competition in
red-state Utah, and the Republican Party isn’t investing in serious
competition in blue-state Massachusetts.
Yet in Massachusetts, 65 percent of voters are registered as
unaffiliated or with third parties. Of the nine congressional
districts in Massachusetts, only two districts had a Republican on the
ballot running against the Democratic candidate last November. This is
where the Forward Party comes in: to give voters a choice.
The Forward Party is committed to running values-based,
solution-oriented candidates for all offices at the state and local
level, as we build the infrastructure needed to stand up viable
campaigns for federal office.
We will build a big tent by leading with shared values like
accountability, transparency, and commitment to the rule of law
instead of rigid ideology. We welcome disaffected Democrats,
Republicans, and independents who are tired of toxic partisanship and
lack of policy solutions. We are building from the ground up, starting
with local races and community leadership rather than national
personalities.
We will foster civil discourse and respectful disagreement to reach
consensus on how to solve challenges affecting Americans like
affordability, the rise of AI, physical and mental health challenges,
immigration, crime and safety, and educating our children for a
changing world. These core issues can unite diverse voters around
practical solutions. We will leverage technology to drive grass-roots
organizing, participatory policy-making, and transparency. We will
seek to reframe political language, talking about problem-solvers and
community-first governance instead of left vs. right or us vs.
them.
Over the past 30 years, there have been multiple attempts to
introduce competition into the political process. However, they have
all been in races for president, including Ross Perot, Mike Bloomberg,
and the No Labels Unity Ticket. With hundreds of thousands of elected
offices across the country, voters have the opportunity to introduce
competition into the political process from the ground up.
Additionally, in a gridlocked Congress, a new political party can be
the most powerful voting bloc with fewer than a dozen members.
We’re not just offering an alternative party. We’re working for a
better system. A system in which election rules are fair, primary
voters aren’t locked into extremes, and public servants who work
toward consensus problem-solving are rewarded. America deserves more
choices, not more division.
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