Forward, a new political party which only needs an exclamation point to be as silly as Jeb! Bush’s political ambitions, formally announced its organization yesterday, and so few people cared it got very little attention.
Reuters reports that the group is comprised of disaffected Democrats and Republicans who think a third party is wanted by people tired of the two-party system that’s dominated American politics. Political dilettante Andrew Yang leads Forward. Former Republican New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman and former Republican Florida Congressman David Jolley are also involved in the organization.
Third-party candidates traditionally fail because of the winner-take-all nature of national politics, with only the plurality of votes, not an absolute majority, needed to win seats in Congress. In most cases, the third party fails to garner enough votes to be anything but a spoiler for one of the major party candidates. There are two independent members of the Senate: Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Angus King of Maine, both of whom caucus with Democrats. Sanders joins the Democratic Party every four years to try to win the Party’s nomination for president because he knows an independent doesn’t stand a chance.