The Forward Party: What is it?

Is it worthwhile? How is it different?

Aug 05, 2022

On July 27th, three democracy reform groups (the Forward Party—as it was—the Renew America Movement, and the Serve America Movement) announced the formal merger of all three organizations into a new moderate party called Forward.

To be clear, The Fearless Moderate is a non-partisan newsletter. However, the debut of a new party claiming to represent moderate interests in an entirely new way—and claiming to have greater combined resources than all other minor parties—is at least worth examining. So, in this edition of TFM, we’ll explore the new post-merger Forward as it exists now, in its infancy. Please don’t consider this an endorsement—simply an analysis.

About the Three Merging Entities

The Pre-Merger Forward Party

The former (pre-merger) Forward Party was a PAC founded by businessman and former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang. The declared goals of the pre-merger Forward Party included reducing polarization, taking a human-centered approach, and implementing electoral reforms for greater voter representation.

My previous take on the Forward Party, as it was then, was similar to my reaction to Mr. Yang himself when he was running for president in 2020. I thought, I really like how this guy thinks… right up until I heard him arguing for universal basic income (UBI). After that, I had to remind myself to take him seriously. I realized that helping the poor benefits society as a whole. But I felt there were more measured, more affordable, and less risky ways to do it.

If you aren’t already aware, Mr. Yang’s plan for UBI was to replace benefits from existing support programs (for those who opt to switch) with a small monthly payment to every American, regardless of need or prior contributions. It wouldn’t be enough for anyone to live on. But he claimed it would help reduce poverty, despite its lack of appeal among the retired and the permanently disabled if their UBI benefits would be less than what they were getting before—he was proposing $1,000 per month. Perhaps, for a short time, it could help stabilize things in a Keynesian sort of way. But mostly, it would be a universal, ongoing stimulus doomed to break the bank. His claims about how to pay for it have been criticized by experts as fiscal fantasy. And rather than lowering joblessness, research in other nations shows it would be more likely to exacerbate the current labor shortage, which is part of what’s driving inflation in the first place.

More to the point, UBI would be a deal-killer for many moderate conservatives, who culturally, would smell from a mile away the arguably-extreme leftward shift UBI would entail. To be fair, however, moderate conservatives should likewise reject as even more extreme GOP Sen. Ron Johnson’s idea that Social Security and Medicare be ended as federal entitlement programs. Just like that. (Is the senator committing political suicide?)

Bear in mind, the new post-merger Forward Party has not officially adopted UBI onto its policy platform. But Forward is beginning its journey with a significant bloc of members and tire-kickers who already support it. It’s one area of potential liability for moderates at large to keep an eye on.

The Renew America Movement (RAM)

Next, as a counterweight, the Renew America Movement (RAM) was founded by disenfranchised Republicans who were tired of their own party’s growing extremism. Its co-founders were former DHS chief of staff and Trump whistleblower Miles Taylor and former CIA officer and presidential candidate Evan McMullin. RAM began with the goal of reforming the GOP to bring it back to its founding principles and moral values. In May of 2021, they publicly issued “A Call for American Renewal,” a political manifesto signed by 150 prominent Republicans threatening to leave the party if certain reforms weren’t made. Soon, they were gathering moderate voters of all political stripes. They identified “uniters” vs. “dividers” from both major parties (but mostly the GOP) and independents to rally strategic candidate support. And they encouraged constructive national unity within a pluralistic, free-thinking framework.

In Forward’s July 27th video chat announcing the merger, Mr. Taylor explained that RAM had, frankly, “given up” on trying to save the GOP from extreme control.

The Serve America Movement (SAM)

Finally, the Serve America Movement (SAM) was a political party founded by Morgan Stanley attorney Eric Grossman, and chaired by former GOP Congressman David Jolly. Its label-defying common-ground approach involved pulling together former members of both major parties. They promoted a focus on problem-solving processes more than pre-determined dogma. Priorities included transparency, accountability, cross-partisan cooperation, pragmatic rejection of ideological purity as a measuring stick, and electoral reform so more voters would feel like they have an actual choice in political outcomes.

Of the three groups, they are the one I knew the least about prior to the announced merger. But their rejection of pre-programmed ideology as a systemic model did set them apart from other parties, both large and small.

Post-Merger Forward Party in Profile

It’s slogan: “Not left. Not right. But forward.”

Extremism, by its very nature, inevitably creates low-hanging fruit for moderates delving into contentious issues, even if they struggle to make their common-sense solutions heard. As Mr. Yang told CNN’s Brianna Keilar on New Day, “…when you ask about the policy goals, the fact is the majority of Americans actually agree on really even divisive issues. The most divisive issues of the day like abortion or firearms—there’s actually a commonsense coalition position on these issues and just about every other issue under the sun.”

In Forward’s merger announcement, the group defined itself as a “transformational…new kind” of American political party designed by moderates for moderates with the purpose of finally getting things done:

“This party will look and feel different. Forward will be a place that celebrates diverse viewpoints and creativity, allowing everyone to chart their own path, and it will focus on uniting people around common-sense solutions to foster:
Free People
Thriving Communities
Vibrant Democracy”

With its bottom-up approach and a great deal of member input still pending, Forward’s policy platform remains largely unannounced. However, they do have positions on electoral reform: They support ranked choice voting, ballot access, greater voter choice, and an end to gerrymandering.

One of the problems with our current system is excessive, deeply embedded rancor—people addicted to constantly blaming the same “others” and to posturing instead of being authentic. Forward’s leadership seems fairly authentic now. They’re not being gratuitously devisive, even as they capitalize heavily on deep voter discontent. But they’ll have to take care as campaigns heat up to avoid slipping into the same old rancorous, populist traps, simply because that’s what Americans are being set up to respond to. Divisive inertia is powerful. We’ll see how they do.

Who’s in Forward Now

Forward is co-chaired by Mr. Yang and former New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman, creating a balance between left and right.

According to the party’s July 27 official press release:

“The merged group—comprised of leading national Democrats, Republicans, and Independents—will build a new kind of political party that represents the interests of the majority of Americans who reject extremism and division. Forward advisors include former U.S. presidential candidates, members of Congress, governors, cabinet officials, entrepreneurs, and grassroots leaders, in addition to thousands of volunteers in all 50 states….
“The new Forward Party team includes veterans of successful presidential campaigns from both major parties, long-time operatives in the ‘new politics’ space, and democracy reform champions.”

Candidates & Legal Recognition

It’s too late for Forward to officially place candidates on 2022 ballots. However, de facto candidates might include Mr. McMullin running as an independent candidate for U.S. Senate in Utah, seeking to replace GOP incumbant Sen. Mike Lee.

Again, quoting the official press release: “Forward plans to achieve legal recognition in 15 states by the end of 2022, twice that number in 2023, and in almost all U.S. states by the end of 2024.”

What, If Anything, Makes Them Different?

Every political party in history has probably used this same selling point: “Tired of the others? Join us!” But this group claims to feature structural innovations. Strategically, Forward has declared itself an “open” party, meaning people can join without forsaking other party affiliations. And they intend to focus their purportedly substantial resources first on electing many candidates in smaller jurisdictions, rather than trying to “shoot the moon” by placing an underdog figurehead in some impossibly high office.

Setting the right moderate policies will still take finesse, a steady hand, and above all, generous empathy for even extreme voters, whose feelings are deep and real, even if their perceptions and arguments are crap. If Forward really wants to be innovative, empathy for the “other” will be their greatest opportunity, despite trolls provocatively griping that moderates don’t stand for anything. Finding that empathy, and providing that hope, may take an unusual degree of humility and imagination. But if any political group can, it might be Forward.

Wouldn't it be nice to vote for someone instead of against someone? — An August 4, 2022 Forward Party tweet

Mr. Jolly, Mrs. Whitman, and Mr. Yang acknowledged in their Washington Post op-ed the failures of third parties in the past, saying, “Most third parties in U.S. history failed to take off, either because they were ideologically too narrow or the population was uninterested.”

Ideologically, Forward is starting out as broad as it can get. And public interest today is on fire. According to a 2021 Gallup poll, a record 62% percent of adults in the U.S. agree the two major “parties do such a poor job representing the American people that a third party is needed.”

Do We Need a Third Major Player?

Despite the “spoiler” arguments against having a third (potentially large) contender, we are now facing critical, nation-destroying problems that clearly won’t be fixing themselves without a shakeup. The two major party “Stepsisters” have already demonstrated their inability to effectively counter extreme populist division. And there are practical solutions to the spoiler effect—such as ranked choice voting—which the new party is already advocating.

Importantly, Forward’s first steps haven’t been the work of amateurs. If there’s any chance it can succeed, it might be worth supporting just to find out what’s possible.

Conclusion

Forward is definitely an experiment. But so was this nation when it was first formed. With the clock ticking on our republic’s viability, we have few opportunities left to lose. And if something’s gotta’ give, we might have a material interest in loading David’s slingshot as potently as we can.

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