George Washington was absolutely right about political parties when he wrote what is now known as his 1796 farewell address. He believed unity, not division, was necessary for our young Republic to survive. Washington believed that political parties would divide and destroy the young United States.
He warned “the spirit of party … serves always to distract the public councils and enfeeble the public administration. It agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms, kindles the animosity of one part against another, foments occasionally riot and insurrection.”
George Washington was confident that the country could and should function without the existence of political parties. But the political party system was well in place, even forming while he was in office. Since then, unless you’ve been locked up in a bunker somewhere, you have been exposed to exactly what Washington’s foresight predicted.
The United States has suffered through a number of political parties, some exceptional and others downright ludicrous. And now we have the genesis of a new political party known as Forward (FWD) to add to the list.
The Forward Party was formally announced in late July and is co-chaired by former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang and former Republican New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman.
This new political party was formed by a merger of three political groups that have shared common goals. The Forward Party, the Renew America Movement, and the Serve America Movement merged in an attempt to redefine American geopolitics and become a new force in uniting the American people.
The FWD website claims that “Democrats, Republicans, and Independents are joining forces to be a political home for the majority of Americans who want to move past the era of divisiveness and do-nothing politicians — so that our government starts working again. This party will look and feel different. Forward celebrates diverse viewpoints and creativity, works to truly improve communities, and focuses on uniting people around common-sense solutions.”
The Forward party platform focuses on three priorities:
- Free People: Revitalize a culture that celebrates difference and individual choice, rejects hate, and removes barriers so that each of us can rise to our full potential.
- Thriving Communities: Reinvigorate a fair, flourishing economy and open society where everyone can live a good life and is safe in the places where we learn, work, and live.
- Vibrant Democracy: Reform our republic to give Americans more choices in elections, more confidence in a government that works, and more say in our future.
Forward’s party paradigm will seek “rank choice voting,” non-partisan primaries, and independent redistricting committees. All of this is, of course, to cure the current state of affairs that both major parties would never want changed.
It’s true that third parties can be influential. The most successful third party since Lincoln and the birth of the Republican Party was the Reform Party, which in 1992 nominated Texas billionaire Ross Perot as its candidate for president. Perot ran on a platform that advocated reducing the federal budget deficit, an issue previously ignored in elections but one that would become a major part of almost every presidential campaign since. Perot received 19 percent of the vote, which came mostly from Republican voters, thus handing Democrat Bill Clinton the presidency.
Forward most likely will find itself in the political wastebasket due to difficulty navigating the election process. Making the ballot, federal campaign finance laws, rules that dictate who can enter presidential debates, and a lack of media attention are just a few obstacles that they must successfully overcome. Oh, and then they need money. Plenty of cash on hand is usually what wins elections.
The truth is that most Americans just want their country back; a country based on the first principles of our Founders and the U.S. Constitution. Americans are tired of the current oligarchy filled with narcissists, sycophants, carpetbaggers, and woke extremist nut jobs.
What we need is not a third party, but candidates, regardless of party affiliation, who will stand for the Constitution and serve with a strong moral compass in their decision-making; candidates who, once elected, will reduce the size of government and bring back government to its basic role of simply defending people’s liberties.
The Forward Party will not be the cure to what ails this nation’s corrupt politicians. That will be the brave individual who seeks to serve as Washington did, remaining above the political party fray, representing the people.
