Former Republicans and Democrats to form new third U.S. political party https://www.reuters.com/world/us/ex...form-new-third-us-political-party-2022-07-27/ Dozens of former Republican and Democratic officials will announce on Wednesday a new national political third party to appeal to millions of voters they say are dismayed with what they see as America's dysfunctional two-party system. The new party, called Forward, will initially be co-chaired by former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang and Christine Todd Whitman, the former Republican governor of New Jersey. They hope the party will become a viable alternative to the Republican and Democratic parties that dominate U.S. politics, founding members told Reuters. Party leaders will hold a series of events in two dozen cities this autumn to roll out its platform and attract support. They will host an official launch in Houston on Sept. 24 and the party's first national convention in a major U.S. city next summer. The new party is being formed by a merger of three political groups that have emerged in recent years as a reaction to America's increasingly polarized and gridlocked political system. The leaders cited a Gallup poll last year showing a record two-thirds of Americans believe a third party is needed. The merger involves the Renew America Movement, formed in 2021 by dozens of former officials in the Republican administrations of Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush and Donald Trump; the Forward Party, founded by Yang, who left the Democratic Party in 2021 and became an independent; and the Serve America Movement, a group of Democrats, Republicans and independents founded by former Republican congressman David Jolly. Two pillars of the new party's platform are to "reinvigorate a fair, flourishing economy" and to "give Americans more choices in elections, more confidence in a government that works, and more say in our future." The party, which is centrist, has no specific policies yet. It will say at its Thursday launch: "How will we solve the big issues facing America? Not Left. Not Right. Forward." Historically, third parties have failed to thrive in America's two-party system. Occasionally they can impact a presidential election. Analysts say the Green Party's Ralph Nader siphoned off enough votes from Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore in 2000 to help Republican George W. Bush win the White House. It is unclear how the new Forward party might impact either party's electoral prospects in such a deeply polarized country. Political analysts are skeptical it can succeed. Forward aims to gain party registration and ballot access in 30 states by the end of 2023 and in all 50 states by late 2024, in time for the 2024 presidential and congressional elections. It aims to field candidates for local races, such as school boards and city councils, in state houses, the U.S. Congress and all the way up to the presidency. `THE FUNDAMENTALS HAVE CHANGED` In an interview, Yang said the party will start with a budget of about $5 million. It has donors lined up and a grassroots membership between the three merged groups numbering in the hundreds of thousands. "We are starting in a very strong financial position. Financial support will not be a problem," Yang said. Another person involved in the creation of Forward, Miles Taylor - a former Homeland Security official in the Trump administration - said the idea was to give voters "a viable, credible national third party." Taylor acknowledged that third parties had failed in the past, but said: "The fundamentals have changed. When other third party movements have emerged in the past it’s largely been inside a system where the American people aren’t asking for an alternative. The difference here is we are seeing an historic number of Americans saying they want one." Stu Rothenberg, a veteran non-partisan political analyst, said it was easy to talk about establishing a third party but almost impossible to do so. "The two major political parties start out with huge advantages, including 50 state parties built over decades," he said. Rothenberg pointed out that third party presidential candidates like John Anderson in 1980 and Ross Perot in 1992 and 1996 flamed out, failing to build a true third party that became a factor in national politics.
How about "No". Could a third-party candidate win the White House in 2024? https://www.usatoday.com/story/news...party-candidate-white-house-2024/10166931002/ A viable third party candidate: Could we have one in the 2024 presidential election? Could they win? According to today’s Suffolk University/USA TODAY national poll of registered voters, Americans are practically screaming for a third-party presidential candidate - or at least anyone who isn’t a Democrat or Republican. We asked voters, “Do the two major parties – Democrat & Republican - do a good job of representing Americans’ political views?” A majority (60%) answered that either a third party or many parties are necessary, with only 1-in-4 registered voters (25%) answering that 2 parties are good enough and the remainder undecided. Unlike many other issues in our nation, support for more parties isn’t one-sided. Voters on both sides of the aisle–especially those in the middle–are all screaming loudly. Sixty-nine percent of independents would like to see three or more parties in the United States. Among registered voters who said they would vote for former President Donald Trump in 2024, 49% would still like to see three or more parties. Among registered voters who said they would vote for President Joe Biden in 2024, 67% would like 3 or more parties. So, a hypothetical third party candidate in 2024 wouldn’t need to rely on just independents. Even though independents made up 30% of registered voters in our poll and “Independent” is the fastest growing party ID nationwide, there are large swaths of Democratic and Republican voters feeling underrepresented or misrepresented in Washington. If it’s true that many voters in both parties are dissatisfied with how the parties are doing, we would expect weak enthusiasm for Trump and Biden in 2024, even within their own parties—and that’s exactly what we find in the poll. Sixty-nine percent of registered voters overall—including 50% of Democrats—do not want President Biden to run for re-election. Meanwhile, 65% of registered voters—including 34% of Republicans—do not want Trump on the ballot. Waning party loyalty to Biden and Trump creates a huge opportunity for new voices to enter the conversation, should this be the general election matchup. The most significant recent example of a viable third party candidate occurred in the 1992 presidential election, when Independent Ross Perot received 19% of the general election vote against Bill Clinton (43%) and President H.W. Bush (38%). In states like Nevada, Kansas and Maine, he received between 25%-31%. Perot captured a significant swath of the electorate, which had many millions fewer independents than we have today. There are clear parallels between the 1992 election and today. The national debt has continued to balloon from 63% of GDP in 1992 to 137% of GDP in 2021 – a statistic that might cause Perot to roll in his grave. One wonders if he were alive, whether he’d be dismayed that we’ve made little progress on issues like abortion and gun control. Rising wealth and income inequality have perhaps partially vindicated his proposal to increase income and capital gains taxes on the wealthy. Perot’s opinions certainly couldn’t be boxed into either party, and yet each has widespread popular support today. Third party skeptics would point out the obvious: Perot lost to Clinton and even Bush, coming in third out of three major candidates without winning a single state. Furthermore, when it comes time to vote, giving your support to a third party candidate trailing in the polls can feel like throwing your vote away. But presidential elections in the United States are not just about election day and its result. From the Iowa caucuses to the first Tuesday in November is almost a full year, and campaigning starts long before then. Every four years our country tunes in, informs itself and figures out which issues are most important and debates the possible solutions to those issues. Every election, the importance of issues and their proposed solutions change. The national conversation shapes what the winner’s four years will look like. For that conversation to be the most inclusive and representative of a diverse set of beliefs and experiences in this country, we need more than two people on every debate stage in 2024. Every media outlet that hosts a debate should commit to having any candidate onstage that averages in polls above 5%, or a more reasonable percentage than has been used in the past. According to the poll, 76% of all registered voters say we’re on the wrong track; 67% say the country has gotten more divided under President Biden, despite campaign promises to unite us together. Sixty-six percent of Americans think we’re in an economic recession or depression. The two established political parties aren’t solving today’s problems. Do these data points open the door for a viable third-party candidate in 2024? David Paleologos is director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center.
IF, they could take what's good from the Dems, and what's good from the Pubs... I would vote for them. I think a lot of people would.