John --

January was quite a month for Congress. From the Speaker of the House election to a perfidious new congressman, there was plenty of drama to go around. What there wasn’t was much progress on any of the issues that impact regular Americans. When politics is all about performance, that’s what you get: to paraphrase Macbeth, lots of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

In stark contrast, Forward’s January was its most productive yet. As we focus on reforming the system so that more Americans can compete with the two major parties on equal footing, it means organizing and building ballot access state by state and advocating for reforms like ranked-choice voting and open, nonpartisan primaries that give voters a choice beyond red and blue.

It’s a lot of work, but Forward volunteers stepped up to the plate in a big way last month and made real progress in states across the nation:

• In Florida, the Executive Committee of Forward Florida held its first strategy summit. The Forward Texas Executive Committee also met to collaborate with its grassroots leaders.
• In South Carolina, volunteers gathered on the steps of the State Capitol building in Columbia to rally in support of ranked-choice voting. They also canvassed the neighborhoods of Columbia and Charleston to begin collecting the approximately 18,000 signatures needed for formal party recognition.
• In California, Forward entered into a strategic alignment with the Common Sense Party of California to meet its goal of registering 73,000 California voters in the first step toward gaining party recognition.

We’re especially proud of the alliance in California because it demonstrates our collaborative ethos. Forwardists will work with anyone—Republican, Democrat, independent, third party—to get things done for the American people. Freed from the ideologies and resentments of the two major parties, Forwardists can build positive coalitions to advance creative policy solutions in ways the others simply can’t. We’re ready.

• Forward Party eyes California recognition via coalition with Common Sense Party —NewsNation

• Former Governor Whitman wants to carry her new party ‘Forward’ —Insider NJ

• ‘We’re really not that different’: Christine Todd Whitman, former NJ governor, talks working across the aisle —Las Vegas Review-Journal

• Why we misunderstand independent voters —The Fulcrum

• Meet the rising young political stars who are rejecting partisan labels —People
  
  

OTHER NEWS & VIEWS

Independents are having a moment 
If the nation’s political independents formed a party, they could dominate American politics, Gallup polls suggest. The rise of the independents comes at a time of widespread public disillusionment with the two major parties and as more than two dozen states offer open primaries, enabling unaffiliated voters to cast ballots for either party. Two may not be enough. According to Pew surveys, roughly 70% of Americans wish they had more parties to choose from. Gallup’s polling shows that only two-fifths of Americans have a favorable opinion of Democrats or Republicans. The last time both parties enjoyed majority favor was 2005, and “independent” has polled better than Democrat or Republican since 2009. —The Hill

Not red, not blue, independent 
Pollsters and pundits were counting on independent voters in the 2022 midterm elections to swing to the Republicans as they did in 2014, when independent turnout in the midterms added up to 29% of all voters, and the GOP won an additional 13 seats in Congress. Expectations also were based on a similar pattern in the 2018 midterms, when independents represented 30% of the voters and broke for Democrats 54% to 42%. But there was no red wave this time. Why? Political scientists and the media have been extremely skeptical of independent voters because of the two-party bias baked into the U.S. political system. It has led them too often to conclude that independents are uninformed, uninvolved “leaners” or “shadow partisans.” But more and more, as their numbers grow, independents are proving the experts wrong. —Huron Daily Tribune

Olson: Welcome to the independent party
“When reading the news, you would never know there is life outside of the two-party system. However, Gallup surveys in 2021 found that 42% of Americans identified as Independents versus 29% as Democrats and 27% as Republicans. Independents form a powerful voting block that can sway any election. As an Independent, you won’t ever be accused of being a RINO or DINO for not walking the straight and narrow party path. The independent nonparty is the big tent party. All views are welcome. Both conservatives and liberals are free to join. Politics should be about improving government so it works for the people. The more ideas the better.” —Paul Olson in Summit Daily News

Forward as much a state of mind as it is a party. All independent, unaffiliated, and third-party candidates and supporters are Forwardists in spirit, declared or not. All Democrats and Republicans who work together to solve problems, especially when it costs them political capital, are Forwardists too. We salute them all.

All the best,
The Forward Party Team

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