Three centrist political parties announced on Wednesday that they are joining forces to become the Forward Party, a new iteration of the party led by former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang.
Joined by the Renew America Movement, formed by former Republican officials in 2021, and the Serve America Movement, a coalition of Republicans, Democrats, and Independents led by former Republican congressman David Jolly, the party intends to be on the ballot in all 50 states by 2024. It will be headed by Yang and former Republican governor of New Jersey Christine Todd Whitman.
The Forward Party says it isn’t “just a new party, but a new kind of political party.” For that reason, rather than a typical political platform, the party has three priorities: free people, thriving communities and vibrant democracy.
“A core principle of who we are and how we’re operating as a party is to encourage civic engagement beyond just voting and giving money,” said Joel Searby, National Political Director of the Renew America Movement. “We believe that party members should be helping to make their communities a better place.”
A major part of the party’s strategy is to start with local and state level races, where third parties have more often made inroads.
However, it is still an uphill battle, if history is any indication. No third party presidential candidate has won a single state since 1968, and third party candidates only rarely win elections in the U.S. Senate or House of Representatives. Forward Party leaders claim that they can overcome this precedent.
“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,” said former Department of Homeland Security Chief of Staff Miles Taylor, who leads the Renew America Movement. “The difference here is we are seeing a historic number of Americans saying they want one.”
At a time when the major political parties have become entrenched in partisan battles, the Forward Party is trying to escape the establishment through bottom-up organizing and find collaborative solutions that most Americans can agree on.
“Our American democracy hangs in the balance. The Republican Party is a threat to our democracy, and the Democratic Party is not built for meeting this moment. The Forward Party will be purpose-built to take us into a new, better era,” said Lucy Caldwell, a former Republican political strategist who is one of the party’s advisors.
There is also concern that the Forward Party could be a “spoiler,” taking away votes from one of the major parties. In the 2000 presidential election, many accused Green Party candidate Randalph Nader of causing Democrat Al Gore’s loss to Republican George W. Bush by taking Democratic votes in a very close election.
Searby rejects this narrative in regards to the Forward Party.
“The system is already deeply spoiled,” he said. “Those who claim that third parties are simply spoilers are not only not paying attention to the facts of the matter, but really are just entrenched in an old way of thinking.”
Americans are locked into parties they don’t necessarily agree with, particularly at the local level where 40 percent of elections went uncontested nationwide in 2020, according to Ballotpedia.
“We will be mindful and cautious, especially in these very tenuous times, that we do not become a vehicle to elect extreme elected officials,” Searby said. However, he notes that at the local level where the Forward Party hopes to build a citizen-based coalition, that is unlikely to be an issue.
“To suggest that there’s too much competition or that an additional party would somehow spoil all the elections is just not consistent with the reality on the ground in America.”
U.S. President Donald Trump boards Air Force One on August 14, 2026 at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. Trump is traveling to Long Island to tour law enforcement facilities in Nassau County and rally support for local Republican candidates ahead of the upcoming midterm elections
Travel Far Enough, You Meet Yourself
Is it possible that our President has simply not traveled enough?
Born and raised in Queens and attending Fordham University in the Bronx, Donald Trump has no record of traveling outside New York until he was over 20, when he transferred to a college in the neighboring state of Pennsylvania. Were his formative years amiss, then, in his learning about other places and other people?
Is his view akin to the famous New Yorker cover by Saul Steinberg, an illustration of the United States with New York City as the epicenter of the country and the Hudson River the border of the known world? We can now at least add Washington, D.C., and Mar-a-Lago to the map of “the realm.”
Our President has now traveled some, but what we recommend is another kind of travel. Not a state-sponsored trip or a venture to scout locations for future Trump Towers. This would be a genuine travel experience, enriching and eye-opening, showcasing other cultures and ways of living.
It will extend far beyond viewing military parades, hobnobbing with such “understanding” world leaders as Kim Jong Un, or taking tea with the King.
WHERE, then, should the President go? As Elon Musk’s Starship spacecraft is not yet ready to take passengers to Mars, perhaps he could explore our own vast country?
Maybe he could travel to “flyover country,” the farming states, where his ying-yanging tariffs and trade restrictions have played havoc with rural economies. Or possibly to California, number one in homeless U. S. citizens, and while there, regale homeless veterans (approximately 32,500 nationwide) with tales of his brave exploits invading and bombing foreign countries.
Or he might tour the Great Lakes, and rename the other four?
WHEN should he go? This will be tough, as he is very busy building his ballroom and renaming bodies of water.
How about a trip in early November, around the midterm elections? Despite the long-discredited accusation of widespread voter fraud, it would be reassuring to know he might be so caught up divvying out ladles of soup in a soup kitchen somewhere that he wouldn’t remember to deploy the military for “election security.”
HOW will he travel? He should definitely not take his Qatari-donated, newly renovated 747, especially after last time, when he had to be smuggled off clandestinely in a catering truck. It’s unlikely any traveling companions, like the Secretary of State or of the Treasury, are going to fall for the ruse a second time. Besides, we may need those people. No more decoys!
Perhaps the President could fly commercially, although this likely would expose him to undue suffering. Without gold bathroom fixtures and maple wood floors, the trip will be no “Luxury Experience.” If only he still had his “Trump Shuttle,” bought with a massive loan he later defaulted on, saying then, “I’m smart. I got out at a good time.”
Considering the potential pitfalls, maybe it’s best the President travel incognito, disguised perhaps as an elderly woman wearing a lot of bronzer.
Wherever, whenever, however: our President needs a vacation.
Moreover, we need a vacation from him.
If the President refuses our travel suggestions, here’s another idea:
Let’s get him a pet! He has never owned a pet. As we know with our children, pets teach essential life lessons: compassion and empathy; they instill a sense of responsibility. There is a well-established connection between those who can care for a pet and those who can care for people.
So, which pet should we choose? A puppy? A kitten? A boa constrictor?
Imagine, the President may even decide he likes having a pet. After all, what is more obedient than a well-trained dog, besides possibly the Cabinet? And what is more docile than a sweet kitten, other than plausibly the Supreme Court?
The President may even become more mellow with a pet afoot and less likely to slap tariffs on our allies, or attempt to annex our neighbors, or bully our Congress. (Realizing, of course, a bully requires active participation from the bullied to maintain his status.)
Maybe we should do both: get the President a pet and devise a travel plan for him. (Do you think we could possibly convince him to leave his phone at home?)
Let’s go for it! After all:
Travel far enough, you meet yourself. (David Mitchell)
And for our President, that would likely be the most profound discovery of all.
Amy Lockard is an Iowa resident who regularly contributes to regional newspapers and periodicals. She is working on the second of a four-book fictional series based on Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice."