Moving Forward with the Forward Party

Finally there’s a place for us.

We’re diverse in our beliefs, but united in openness and compromise. We reject policy extremism and realize the problem is our leaders — or more specifically, how we elect our leaders and what choice we truly have. We understand that we have much more in common than not. We believe that science and information should drive decisions instead of personal gain.

We are the Forward Party.

Progress does not happen all at once, nor should it. Having a direction you’re aiming towards doesn’t automatically put you at the end. Time, collaboration and reflection should move us steadily forward.

We’re made up of both liberal and conservative people. We believe you should know your elected official’s beliefs, that belief should be personal and not driven by a party platform. Party loyalty is not something that moves us. A party is simply a collection of beliefs, and to believe that we’re easily divided into two neat parties based on our true feelings is just wrong. We must realize that this two-party limitation is restraining our ability to solve real problems.

The solution starts with changing how we elect our officials. We’re usually forced into only two choices in any given election, stemming from a two-party system that wants to keep things the way they are; $12 billion was spent during the 2020 election cycle. Money has dirtied our politics and it almost always decides who will win. It’s time to change this and ranked choice voting is how we get there.

To a country that is new to the idea, explaining ranked choice voting can be daunting. The idea is that the most appealing candidate (usually the most moderate) representing the greatest cross-section of support should be the one who wins. To explain how this would work, consider an election with 3 candidates. In choosing your order: Your first choice (1) aligns directly with your beliefs, your second choice (2) is moderately aligned but not completely, and your third choice (3) is diametrically opposed to your own beliefs. You would then rank them in this order. After the first round of voting in which no candidate received over 50% of the votes, the candidate with the lowest number of votes is removed, and the count continues. In this example, you found that 30% voted for your first choice candidate, 31% voted for your second choice candidate, and 39% voted for your third choice candidate. Because there is no candidate reaching 50%, there will be another round of counting the votes.

Round 1 Results:

Candidate 1: 30% Voted as Choice #1 -> Lowest vote getter, 30% reallocated.
Candidate 2: 31% Voted as Choice #1
Candidate 3: 39% Voted as Choice #1

Since your first choice was the lowest point-getter, the ballots are re-counted, but this time your second choice is used. In round 2, the 30% that voted for your first choice candidate is reallocated, but uses the candidate listed as your second choice. That means, if two-thirds (66.6%) of voters who had listed Candidate #1 also listed Candidate #2 as the 2nd option, it would allocate 20% (out of the 30% available) to the #2 choice and 10% (the remaining portion of the 30%) to the #3 choice. The outcome would then become:

Round 2 Results:

Candidate 1: 0% — LOST— All of these votes are re-allocated in Round 2.
— Out of Candidate 1 Voters (30%), the #2 choices were:
— — Candidate 2: 66.6% of Round 2 Votes: 66.6% of 30% = 20% Allocated to Candidate 2
— — Candidate 3: 33.3% of Round 2 Votes: 33.3% of 30% = 10% Allocated to Candidate 1

Candidate 2: 31% Voted as Choice #1 + 20% As Choice #2 = 51% — Winner
Candidate 3: 39% Voted as Choice #1 + 10% As Choice #2 = 49%

That means that Candidate 2 would win with 51% of the vote.

Some of you may think that this adds a 3rd party spoiler to any election, thus risking the “better of the two”. We’ve seen this happen in the past, potentially affecting elections. This is not the intention of anyone running, because this does not move us forward. Instead, the focus is on elections where the winning party isn’t at risk. Another option being considered is running as one of the two major-party candidates, and self-identifying as being Forward. This is likely the best outcome due to the restrictive nature of most primary systems which are currently built to only support two major parties.

Those of us who are working in the Forward Party see the change that is badly needed. However, the idea that change occurs overnight is just a fantasy. I’m hard pressed to find someone who approves of the way things are going now, yet the world is full of cynical people who don’t believe things can change. I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of two parties who don’t work for us. I’m tired of our representatives doing little to solve actual issues and instead are focused on their own self preservation. They have not lived a life of struggle and sacrifice that so many of us have. They don’t understand that daily choices can be between food and medicine. They don’t see that homelessness is a failure of our society to protect our most vulnerable.

I may be but just one voice. Together our voices can be heard and we can finally start moving forward again. We’re tired of the extremism that haunts our current political landscape. We want to make the country a place for opportunity again.

I’ve grown up during this time of explosive innovation. I’ve seen the growth of Google, Facebook, Apple and Amazon — and the failure of us to manage that growth. They’ve paid little in taxes and consumed businesses left and right. We’ve seen the massive wealth shift from the poor and middle class to the richest of the rich. And we’re tired of shouldering the financial burden that comes from the rich not paying their fair share.

It’s no surprise that we’re quitting low paying or inflexible jobs. We have learned that time, not money, brings happiness (although to be clear, money gives us the ability to have more time). The pandemic forced many of us to be at home, and through that, we’ve realized something that’s been missing. Many still desire the structure of the office, and that’s okay too. What we truly crave is flexibility. Flexibility in where we work, how we work and when we work. For many of us, our job is no longer a career path. We are surviving in any way we can, and employer loyalty means nothing since they’ve long lost their loyalty to us. Gone are the days of pensions or guaranteed retirement benefits; instead, we’re told to sacrifice our time for the sake of our employer, save on our own if we can afford to, and be happy that we have a job at all. No: We’ve realized that we all have greater pursuits and larger dreams. Maybe it’s opening up your own business, or becoming a lifelong learner. The idea of America was the Land of Opportunity. If that’s true, it’s time to embrace that and remove the barriers. Student debt is a burden for so many. Why have we let generations of us — myself included — accumulate debt for the chance to educate themselves? Is that what we truly wanted? It’s surely not what I expected.

We want the chance to pursue a life of dreams. We seem to have forgotten that important morsel in the Declaration of Independence: “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness”. How many of us are on that path to pursue happiness? Not many. Instead, the super rich have earned even more wealth on the backs of “essential workers”. They capitalized on the pandemic and the free flowing COVID funds, taking out tax-advantaged loans and still paying extreme executive pay. This is a side effect of a political duopoly that is profiting from this madness and the ability of corporations to freely donate to our politicians. Unless we change our campaign finance laws, this won’t change.

The Forward Party sees these issues and is trying to address them. Talking about these problems openly is how we start. The first problem we have is how we elect our officials in the first place. Once we solve that, perhaps we can start to really think about new ideas for our future.

We also know we can’t do it alone. We recognize the benefit of diverse voices and support. Although I am but one voice, I strive to be an elected voice. I’ve spent my life dreaming of making a real positive impact, one that affects not just those who are “on my side”. The reality is that many of our leaders are working for their own financial benefit, thriving in a party system that makes an enemy of the other. My neighbors and my countrymen are not my enemy; they are my fellow Americans. I may not know all the answers, but I know that we are better when we work together.

Let’s move Forward.