A bipartisan alliance is trying to topple the state’s ban on fusion voting, a system under which third-party groups like the Working Families Party in New York have gained influence.
When Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, writing for the Supreme Court majority in a landmark 1997 case, rejected a minor party’s demand that it be allowed to nominate candidates who were already on the Democratic ticket, he argued that states have a strong interest in the benefits of “a stable two-party system.”
Just over 25 years later, Rehnquist’s fundamental premise is now widely in question. Signs of extreme polarization and voter unease are everywhere, from this week’s congressional hearings over one party’s baldfaced attempt to overturn a presidential election to the surging number of Americans who decline to register as either Democrats or Republicans.
Past efforts to stand up viable third parties have foundered repeatedly in the United States, however — be it because they hitch themselves to quixotic causes at the expense of more mainstream appeals, or because of the obstacles the two major parties routinely place in their path.
A new political party in New Jersey is hoping to disrupt that pattern by embracing the very technique that Justice Rehnquist scorned — fusion voting — with ambitions of taking the idea national. And while the party’s founders acknowledge that the chances of success may be low, supporters say they have identified a formula that offers greater promise than more sweeping but ultimately unworkable ideas for overhauling America’s sclerotic political system.
The party, led by a core of local Republicans, Democrats and independents alarmed by the G.O.P.’s rightward drift under former President Donald J. Trump, has given itself a name that makes its middle-of-the-road ideological positioning crystal clear: the Moderate Party.
The party’s goal is to give centrist voters more of a voice at a time when, the group’s founders say, America’s two major parties have drifted toward the political fringes. But unlike traditional third parties, the Moderate Party hopes to nudge the Democratic and Republican Parties toward the center, not replace or compete with them.
One of the party’s co-founders is Richard A. Wolfe, a partner at the law firm Fried Frank and former small-town mayor who says he is repulsed by the Republican Party’s embrace of conspiracy theories and fealty toward Mr. Trump.
“Starting around 2020, my wife and I started to feel like the Republican Party no longer represented our views,” Mr. Wolfe said in an interview. “We started to get very uncomfortable with the extremism.”
But he could not bring himself to support the Democratic Party, which he views as too beholden to left-wing economic ideas and cultural causes. Feeling politically “homeless,” Mr. Wolfe began having quiet conversations with like-minded individuals about starting a new political party and stumbled across the concept of fusion voting, he said.
Under fusion voting, multiple parties can nominate the same candidate, who then appears more than once on the ballot. Proponents say it allows voters who don’t feel comfortable with either major party to express their preferences without “wasting” votes on candidates with no hope of winning.
The practice is common in New York, which has two prominent fusion parties: the Working Families Party, which backs progressive candidates but usually aligns with Democrats; and the Conservative Party, which supports candidates on the center-right but usually aligns with Republicans. In the Connecticut governor’s race in 2010, 26,000 votes cast on the Working Families Party ballot line for Dannel P. Malloy, a Democrat, made the difference between victory and defeat.
Forty-three states, including New Jersey, prohibit fusion voting, however. The Moderate Party hopes to change that by challenging those bans in state court.
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The first test case is Representative Tom Malinowski, who is favored to win the Democratic primary to continue to represent New Jersey’s Seventh Congressional District. An upscale suburban area that includes Mr. Trump’s Bedminster golf club, the district became significantly more Republican-leaning after a bipartisan redistricting commission redrew the state’s maps last year.
Mr. Malinowski’s likely Republican opponent, Tom Kean Jr., is the scion of a powerful political dynasty in New Jersey. His father, Tom Kean Sr., is a moderate former governor of the state who gained national recognition as a co-chairman of the Sept. 11 commission. Mr. Malinowski narrowly defeated the younger Mr. Kean in 2020, winning by just 5,329 votes.
New Jersey political analysts expect an even more difficult race this year for Mr. Malinowski, who carefully weighed his chances before deciding to seek a third term.
In an interview, Mr. Malinowski said that he welcomed the Moderate Party’s support.
“I think this is an answer to a question that a lot of Americans have been asking,” Mr. Malinowski said. “People in the middle of the political spectrum feel disenfranchised by parties that play to their base, particularly on the Republican side.”
How Times reporters cover politics. We rely on our journalists to be independent observers. So while Times staff members may vote, they are not allowed to endorse or campaign for candidates or political causes. This includes participating in marches or rallies in support of a movement or giving money to, or raising money for, any political candidate or election cause.
Although it has been dominated by the Democratic Party in recent years, New Jersey has a history of rewarding centrist politicians. Of the state’s nearly 6.5 million registered voters, slightly over four million are registered as Democrats or Republicans, leaving 2.5 million unaffiliated with either major party.
A poll of New Jersey voters conducted in April by the Monmouth University Polling Institute found that 52 percent of adults in the state either prefer or lean toward keeping Democrats in control of Congress, while 41 percent favor putting Republicans in power.
Fusion voting was once widespread across the United States. But most state legislatures outlawed the practice after it became a popular tool of minor parties and movements during the Progressive Era, threatening the two major parties’ exclusive hold on voters.
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Under Gov. Woodrow Wilson, New Jersey passed a law in 1911 expressly allowing fusion tickets. Wilson hailed the measure as putting “every process of choice in the hands of the people,” according to a contemporary New York Times account. But a decade later, New Jersey state lawmakers, alarmed by the growth of minor parties, barred candidates from appearing more than once on the same ballot.
On Tuesday, the Moderate Party submitted nominating petitions on Mr. Malinowski’s behalf to the New Jersey secretary of state, Tahesha Way, along with a memorandum and various other material laying out the case for why fusion voting should be legal. The secretary of state’s office declined a request for comment.
If, as expected, Ms. Way declines to allow Mr. Malinowski to run on the Moderate Party ticket, the party and some of its supporters plan to challenge her decision in state appeals court.
Beau Tremitiere, a lawyer at Protect Democracy, a nonprofit group that is representing a voter who intends to challenge Ms. Way’s likely ruling, said that New Jersey had strong protections for voting rights and freedom of speech, assembly and association that ought to invalidate the century-old ban on fusion tickets.
Protect Democracy became involved, Mr. Tremitiere said, because the group believes that fusion voting “can help provide a meaningful off-ramp to escalating extremism and polarization.”
The state-centric strategy could allow the party to bypass the Supreme Court, whose 1997 ruling that states have the authority to outlaw fusion tickets is considered unassailable under the federal Constitution, particularly given the court’s current conservative majority.
But the Moderate Party’s legal team plans to argue that not only has political polarization reached unsustainable levels since the 1990s, fusion voting has contributed to the stability of states like New York and Connecticut.
“It’s an uphill battle, certainly,” said Jeffrey Mongiello, a lawyer in New Jersey who has written critically about the state’s ban on fusion voting. Mr. Mongiello noted that the burden would be on the plaintiffs to demonstrate that the ban on fusion voting is unconstitutional under New Jersey law, notwithstanding the Supreme Court’s ruling.
Mr. Malinowski, a former State Department official and longtime analyst for Human Rights Watch, has been an influential voice on foreign policy during his time in the House. He was an outspoken supporter of arming Ukraine to defend itself against Russia’s invasion and sponsored a bill to seize the assets of Russian oligarchs and reallocate them to the Ukrainian government.
For now, the Moderate Party is focused on changing the law in New Jersey, with the courts being the most promising avenue. But the party’s allies, which have the backing of well-heeled national donors, have identified eight to 10 other states that have a similar combination of a favorable constitution and a potentially sympathetic Supreme Court.
The Working Families Party tried a comparable gambit in Pennsylvania in 2019, resulting in a 4-to-3 State Supreme Court decision in favor of the state’s argument that fusion voting would unleash “electoral chaos.”
Supporters of fusion voting see a model that can be used to bolster centrist voices across the country and break what they say is the “doom loop of zero-sum partisan warfare” that is endangering American democracy.
“There’s a gut-wrenching aversion among many Republicans that says, ‘I could never vote for a Democrat,’” said Lee Drutman, an analyst at the New America Foundation who wrote an expert brief in favor of the Moderate Party’s petitions. “Fusion voting allows people to express their true preferences in a way the two-party system does not.”
FAQs
What do the Moderate Party believe in?
The party generally supports tax cuts, the free market, civil liberties and economic liberalism.
What is a moderate in American politics?
A moderate is considered someone occupying any mainstream position avoiding extreme views. In United States politics, a moderate is considered someone occupying a centre position on the left?right political spectrum.
What’s the difference between moderate and conservative?
Political ideology in the United States is usually defined with the left?right spectrum, with left-leaning ideas classified as liberalism and right-leaning ideas classified as conservatism. Those who hold beliefs between liberalism and conservatism or a mix of beliefs on this scale are called moderates.
Who is behind unite America?
Washington Independents Its co-founders were Chris Vance, the former chairman of the state’s Republican Party, and Brian Baird, a former Democratic Congressman (WA-3). The Political Action Committee spent over $100,000 on three candidates for state office in the 2018 general election.
What is the difference between moderate and radical Republicans?
After the 1860 elections, moderate Republicans dominated the Congress. Radical Republicans were often critical of Lincoln, who they believed was too slow in freeing slaves and supporting their legal equality. Lincoln put all factions in his cabinet, including Radicals like Salmon P.
Who were called moderates?
The Early Nationalists, also known as the Moderates, were a group of political leaders in India active between 1885 and 1907. Their emergence marked the beginning of the organised national movement in India. Some of the important moderate leaders were Pherozeshah Mehta and Dadabhai Naoroji.
What do liberals stand for?
Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but they generally support individual rights (including civil rights and human rights), liberal democracy, secularism, rule of law, economic and political freedom, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, …
How many independents are in the US?
On December 17, 2020, Gallup polling found that 31% of Americans identified as Democrats, 25% identified as Republican, and 41% as Independent.
What is a political centrist?
Centrism is a political outlook or position that involves acceptance and/or support of a balance of social equality and a degree of social hierarchy, while opposing political changes which would result in a significant shift of society strongly to either the left or the right.
Is Alabama red or blue?
The state has voted Republican in every presidential election since 1980, and Democrats have not seriously contested the state since.
Is Missouri a red state?
Missouri was historically viewed as a bellwether state, but the consecutive votes against the winning candidate in 2008 and 2012 introduced doubts about its continued status as a bellwether, and an 18.5-point Republican victory in 2016 indicated that it had become a safe red state.
What it means to be right-wing?
The term right-wing can generally refer to the section of a political party or system that advocates free enterprise and private ownership, and typically favours socially traditional ideas.
Is libertarian left or right?
According to common United States meanings of conservative and liberal, libertarianism in the United States has been described as conservative on economic issues (economic liberalism and fiscal conservatism) and liberal on personal freedom (civil libertarianism and cultural liberalism).
What do conservatives stand for?
They advocate low taxes, free markets, deregulation, privatization, and reduced government spending and government debt. Social conservatives see traditional social values, often rooted in familialism and religion, as being threatened by secularism and moral relativism.
What does being conservative mean?
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional social institutions and practices. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the status quo of the culture and civilization in which it appears.
What is left wing and right wing?
Generally, the left-wing is characterized by an emphasis on “ideas such as freedom, equality, fraternity, rights, progress, reform and internationalism” while the right-wing is characterized by an emphasis on “notions such as authority, hierarchy, order, duty, tradition, reaction and nationalism”.
A new party for a new majority.
A new party for a new majority. MOVING FORWARD TOGETHER IMPORTANT NEWS: SAM is taking a big step forward… We are excited to announce that SAM is officially joining forces with the Forward Party and the Renew America Movement as one combined organization, called Forward. Our mission to build the new kind of party America needs continues, now with even more friends working together. Please click to review our full statement on this news and learn more about SAM’s leadership role in this newly formed coalition. SERVE AMERICA MOVEMENT We are current and former Democrats, Republicans, and independents who have come together with a common goal – to fix our broken politics in America. Learn How Serve America Movement A new party for a new majority. We are current and former Democrats, Republicans, and independents who have come together with a common goal – to fix our broken politics in America. Transparency.Accountability.Competition. Every other political party starts with an answer — regardless of the question. The result? We spend more time arguing than fixing things. We’re changing that. Scorecard Our Goal We’re ditching “politics as usual” to create a radically different kind of party: one that starts by putting your voice at the heart of the political process. Our Party Our vision isn’t just possible.It’s inevitable. 61% 61%of Americans support a new major political party — the highest Gallup has ever recorded. 85% 85%of Americans feel today’s political leaders are only interested in protecting their power and privilege. 65% 65%of Americans feel they have no say in their own government. It’s time toUnrig the System. We live in a diverse country and don’t always agree on everything. Neither do SAM members. That’s why we’re building the first ever political party that starts with questions instead of top-down answers — one designed to deliver the most good to the most people. And together, we’re fixing a system that has been corrupted by the mainstream parties and the people who prop them up. Reforms Get the latest news visit Sam Studio
Are Americans finally ready for a Third Party?
Are Americans finally ready for a Third Party? Are Americans finally ready for a third-party? Andrew Yang, a former candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, and Christine Todd Whitman, a former Republican governor of New Jersey, certainly think so. They have just founded the Forward Party with the avowed aspiration of promoting more moderate politics and candidates. They have some evidence to back their hopes. In a just-released survey, the Pew Research Center found that the share of voters with an unfavorable view of both political parties has risen from 6% in 1994 to 27% today. When asked to respond to the statement that “I usually feel that there is at least one candidate who shares most of my views,” 43% disagree, up from 36% in 2018. Thirty-eight percent strongly agree that “I wish there were more political parties to choose from in this country,” a figure that includes 48% of Independents and 38% of Democrats but just 21% of Republicans. This final finding is one of several replicated across all the surveys in this article. Democrats and Independents are much more dissatisfied with the current party system than are Republicans, and young adults are far less satisfied than are older Americans. (In fact, discontent decreases steadily with age.) In addition, some surveys suggest that there is more openness to a new party among college-educated than non-college voters—and that Hispanics may be less tethered to the current party system than are either whites or African Americans. A Gallup survey released last year points in the same direction. In 2003, 56% of voters believed that the two existing parties did an adequate job of representing the American people. By 2021, this figure had dropped to 33%, while the share who thought that a third major party was needed to achieve adequate representation had risen from 40% to 62%. A recent USA Today/Suffolk poll adds an interesting refinement to the Gallup finding. When respondents were asked whether the two existing parties were adequately representing Americans’ views, only 25% said that two parties are good enough, and 26% said that a third party is necessary. But 34% said that “multiple” new parties are needed to represent Americans’ views. Political science research shows that this third group is correct. If the United States had a parliamentary system, we would have at five distinct blocs of voters—roughly speaking, a progressive Sanders/AOC party, a center-left Biden party, a centrist/business-oriented Bloomberg party, a traditional-conservative Pence party, and a conservative populist Trump Party. Voters who give priority to climate change might organize a sixth “Green” party, as they have in Germany and elsewhere. We don’t have a parliamentary system, of course, and we aren’t likely to move toward one any time soon. We have an entrenched two-party system whose first-past-the post voting rules discourage new entrants, and polarization has reinforced partisan identification as a key determinant of voters’ preferences. Nonetheless, it’s clear that discontent with our party system is at its highest point in decades—and that much of the discontent lies in the center of the electorate. Unless public sentiment changes significantly, moreover, a 2024 rematch between Joe Biden and Donald Trump would feature two of the least popular presidential candidates in modern history—even within their own parties. Forty-three percent of Democrats…
New Jersey Centrists Seek to Legalize Their Dream
New Jersey Centrists Seek to Legalize Their Dream: The Moderate PartyA bipartisan alliance is trying to topple the state’s ban on fusion voting, a system under which third-party groups like the Working Families Party in New York have gained influence.Credit…Bryan Anselm for The New York TimesPublished June 7, 2022Updated June 9, 2022When Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, writing for the Supreme Court majority in a landmark 1997 case, rejected a minor party’s demand that it be allowed to nominate candidates who were already on the Democratic ticket, he argued that states have a strong interest in the benefits of “a stable two-party system.”Just over 25 years later, Rehnquist’s fundamental premise is now widely in question. Signs of extreme polarization and voter unease are everywhere, from this week’s congressional hearings over one party’s baldfaced attempt to overturn a presidential election to the surging number of Americans who decline to register as either Democrats or Republicans.Past efforts to stand up viable third parties have foundered repeatedly in the United States, however — be it because they hitch themselves to quixotic causes at the expense of more mainstream appeals, or because of the obstacles the two major parties routinely place in their path.A new political party in New Jersey is hoping to disrupt that pattern by embracing the very technique that Justice Rehnquist scorned — fusion voting — with ambitions of taking the idea national. And while the party’s founders acknowledge that the chances of success may be low, supporters say they have identified a formula that offers greater promise than more sweeping but ultimately unworkable ideas for overhauling America’s sclerotic political system.The party, led by a core of local Republicans, Democrats and independents alarmed by the G.O.P.’s rightward drift under former President Donald J. Trump, has given itself a name that makes its middle-of-the-road ideological positioning crystal clear: the Moderate Party.The party’s goal is to give centrist voters more of a voice at a time when, the group’s founders say, America’s two major parties have drifted toward the political fringes. But unlike traditional third parties, the Moderate Party hopes to nudge the Democratic and Republican Parties toward the center, not replace or compete with them.One of the party’s co-founders is Richard A. Wolfe, a partner at the law firm Fried Frank and former small-town mayor who says he is repulsed by the Republican Party’s embrace of conspiracy theories and fealty toward Mr. Trump.“Starting around 2020, my wife and I started to feel like the Republican Party no longer represented our views,” Mr. Wolfe said in an interview. “We started to get very uncomfortable with the extremism.”But he could not bring himself to support the Democratic Party, which he views as too beholden to left-wing economic ideas and cultural causes. Feeling politically “homeless,” Mr. Wolfe began having quiet conversations with like-minded individuals about starting a new political party and stumbled across the concept of fusion voting, he said.Under fusion voting, multiple parties can nominate the same candidate, who then appears more than once on the ballot. Proponents say it allows voters who don’t feel comfortable with either major party to express their preferences without “wasting” votes on candidates with no hope of winning.The practice is common in New York, which has two prominent fusion parties: the Working Families Party, which backs progressive candidates but usually aligns with Democrats; and the Conservative Party, which supports candidates on the center-right but usually aligns with Republicans. In the Connecticut governor’s race in 2010, 26,000 votes cast on the Working Families Party ballot line for Dannel P. Malloy, a Democrat, made the difference between victory and defeat.Forty-three states, including New Jersey, prohibit fusion voting, however. The Moderate Party hopes to change that by challenging those bans in state court.ImageCredit…Stefani Reynolds for The New York TimesThe first test case is Representative Tom Malinowski, who is favored to win the Democratic primary to continue to represent New Jersey’s Seventh Congressional District. An upscale suburban area that includes Mr. Trump’s Bedminster golf club, the district became significantly more Republican-leaning after a bipartisan redistricting commission redrew the state’s maps last year.Mr….
Moderate Party – Ballotpedia
Moderate PartyModerate PartyBasic factsLocation:North Kingstown, R.I.Type:Political partyTop official:William Gilbert, ChairFounder(s):Ken BlockYear founded:2009Website:Official website Ballot access for major and minor party candidates Ballot access for presidential candidates List of political parties in the United States Ballotpedia’s election legislation tracker Note: For more information on running for office or forming a political party, contact your state election agency. The Moderate Party is one of three recognized political parties in Rhode Island. The group is headquartered in North Kingstown, R.I.[1][2] As of September 2019, it was not a ballot-qualified party. Note: This party was previously ballot-qualified in Rhode Island. As of March 8, 2022, it is no longer ballot-qualified. The content here reflects the most current information as of March 8, 2022. Background The Moderate Party obtained recognition as a ballot-qualified political party in Rhode Island on August 18, 2009. The group was founded by Ken Block, a Rhode Island businessman and political activist. According to the party’s archived website, the group “is a centrist political party dedicated to the idea that elected officials should serve the best interests of the state’s residents.”[3][4][5] The party supported Ken Block in the 2010 race for governor of Rhode Island. Block earned 6.1 percent of the vote, which allowed the party to maintain ballot access through the 2014 elections. However, Block left the party in 2013 to run for governor of Rhode Island as a Republican candidate. Instead of Block, the Moderate Party supported Robert Healey as its 2014 gubernatorial candidate. Healey finished third in the race with 21.4 percent of the vote, allowing the party to maintain ballot access through the 2018 elections.[3][6][7][8][9] Ballot access for political parties See also: List of political parties in the United States As of December 2021, there were 209 state-level ballot-qualified political party affiliates in the United States.[10] Some parties are recognized in multiple states. For example, both the Democratic Party and the Republican Party are recognized in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. These two parties account for 102 of the 209 total state-level parties.[11][12] Three minor parties were recognized in more than 10 states as of December 2021: Libertarian Party: 33 states Green Party: 17 states Constitution Party: 12 states[13] Although there are dozens of political parties in the United States, only certain parties qualify to have the names of their candidates for office printed on election ballots. In order to qualify for ballot placement, a party must meet certain requirements that vary from state to state. For example, in some states, a party may have to file a petition in order to qualify for ballot placement. In other states, a party must organize around a candidate for a specific office; that candidate must, in turn, win a percentage of the vote in order for the party to be granted ballot status. In still other states, an aspiring political party must register a certain number of voters. The number of ballot-qualified political parties fluctuates as parties gain or lose qualified status. In addition, some states distinguish between major parties and minor parties. Specific differences between major and minor parties differ from state to state. For example, in all states, major parties are granted access to primary elections. Some states, however, do not permit minor parties to participate in primary elections. Consequently, minor party candidates in these states can run only in general elections.[11] The table below lists all ballot-qualified political parties in each state as of December 2021. Click “[show]” to expand the table.[11] Ballot-qualified parties by state, December 2021 State Political party Alabama Democratic Party of Alabama Alabama Republican Party of Alabama Alaska Alaskan Independence Party Alaska Democratic Party of Alaska Alaska Republican Party of Alaska Arizona Democratic Party of Arizona Arizona Libertarian Party of Arizona Arizona Republican Party of Arizona Arkansas Democratic Party of Arkansas Arkansas Libertarian Party of Arkansas Arkansas Republican Party of Arkansas California American Independent Party of California California Democratic Party of California California Green Party of California California Libertarian Party of California California Peace and Freedom Party of California California Republican…
Andrew Yang and ex-GOP officials form new political party to …
Group of Republicans and Democrats form new political party to appeal to moderates (CNN)A group of former Republican and Democratic officials are forming a new political party called Forward, in an attempt to appeal to what they call the “moderate, common-sense majority.””Political extremism is ripping our nation apart, and the two major parties have failed to remedy the crisis,” David Jolly, Christine Todd Whitman and Andrew Yang wrote in a Washington Post op-ed published Wednesday. “Today’s outdated parties have failed by catering to the fringes. As a result, most Americans feel they aren’t represented.”Jolly is a former Republican congressman from Florida, Whitman a former Republican governor of New Jersey and Yang is a former Democratic presidential and New York mayoral candidate. The three will merge their political organizations into the new party, whose launch was first reported by Reuters.The group cites issues including guns, climate change and abortion as those that could benefit from a moderate approach. The new party will also advocate ranked-choice voting and open primaries, the end of gerrymandering, and nationwide protection for voting rights.”Sixty-two percent of Americans now want a third party, a record high, because they can see that our leaders aren’t getting it done,” Yang told CNN’s Brianna Keilar on “New Day” on Thursday in a joint appearance with Whitman. “And 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.”Forward is planning a national convention next summer and will soon seek ballot access to run candidates in 2024, according to the Post op-ed.The party said in a news release that it would launch “a national building tour this fall to hear from voters and begin laying the groundwork for expanded state-by-state party registration and ballot access, relying on the combined nationwide network of the three organizations.” It plans to gain 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.”While Forward won’t be running its own candidates in this year’s midterm elections, it will “support select candidates in November who stand up for our democracy, even if they come from outside the new party,” according to the news release.Jolly, Whitman and Yang acknowledged the clear lack of success third parties have had in the United States previously, writing in their op-ed, “Most third parties in U.S. history failed to take off, either because they were ideologically too narrow or the population was uninterested.” But they said that “voters are calling for a new party now more than ever,” citing a Gallup poll from last year.”Americans of all stripes — Democrats, Republicans and independents — are invited to be a part of the process, without abandoning their existing political affiliations, by joining us to discuss building an optimistic and inclusive home for the politically homeless majority,” Jolly, Whitman and Yang wrote.Asked by Keilar on Thursday why they believe their effort to create a third party would work, Whitman said, “We’re in a different time.””When you…
Unite America — Country Over Party
Unite America — Country Over Partyoverparty.Thank you!Please consider donating to support our fight for fairness and representation in American politics.Donate Now*Please fill out all fields above.Unite America is a movement of Democrats, Republicans, and independents working to put voters first by fostering a more representative and functional government.We invest in campaigns to enact reforms and elect candidates so that the right leaders have the right incentives to solve our country’s greatest problems.Our StrategyFeatured Newsour strategyWe exist to unite, scale, and grow the movement to put voters first.In 2018, less than 3% of what was spent on partisan campaigns was invested in nonpartisan reforms to improve our political process.Through the Unite America Fund, we have a plan to change that.The Unite America Fund is a philanthropic fund and nonpartisan donor community that aims to accelerate and scale the voters first movement through strategic investments.Where We InvestElectoral reformsWe support nonpartisan ballot initiatives and legislative campaigns that increase competition, participation, and accountability in the political system.State programsWe support pro-reform, pragmatic candidates in both parties’ primary elections for state and federal office who are committed to putting people over party.Movement capacityWe build the shared infrastructure that will drive greater efficiency and effectiveness between the organizations working to put voters first.The Unite AMerica FundSolving the Country’sLargest Problems.Through the Unite America Fund, we invest in nonpartisan electoral reform campaigns and work to elect pro-reform candidates so that the right leaders have the right incentives to solve our country’s largest greatest problems.Our FundTHE PROBLEMWe’re more divided than ever.Congress is gridlocked, legislation is at a standstill, and political divisions are tearing our country apart. Distrust and dysfunction are now hallmarks of our political system. It wasn’t always this way. So what happened?Our politicians have stopped representing us. To repair our political system we have to fix the incentives that govern it.PORTFOLIOOur investmentsA growing movementOur movement has helped to pass 12 statewide reform ballot initiatives, and elect 20 reform candidates since 2018.NewsStay up to date with all the latest.All NewsPartnersUnite America is proud to work with organizations from around the reform communityView AllSupport the movementHELP US MAKE HISTORY.Join us to stay up to date and get involved.Got it! Thank you for joining the movement*Please fill out all fields above.
Can a new moderate party succeed in the U.S.? | Dan Abrams …
Will 'Moderate Party' give Americans a 3rd choice at polls?
NewsNation Will ‘Moderate Party’ give Americans a 3rd choice at polls? J.J. Bullock Posted: Jul 7, 2022 / 09:45 PM CDT | Updated: Jul 7, 2022 / 09:45 PM CDT (NewsNation) — The United States of America has long been a two-party system where voters must choose between Republicans and Democrats on voting day, with very few other viable or recognizable options on a ballot. As Democrats and Republicans continue to grow farther apart, each moving ever closer to its extreme wing of the party, a new “Moderate Party” appears to be taking shape in Washington, D.C. But the question lingers, can this new caucus gain enough traction to make waves on Capitol Hill? Or will the powers of the Democratic and Republican parties stomp it out? NewsNation’s Dan Abrams believes a middle or moderate party would encompass a “vast majority of Americans” if it were to be embraced on a national scale. U.S. House Rep. Tom Malinowski, D-N.J., penned a letter in the New York Times this week predicting a third, more moderate, party was on its way. In the letter, Malinowski calls the new “Moderate Party” an “experiment” and an “alliance between Democrats of all stripes, independents and moderate Republicans” that can save America from “toxic polarization.” Malinowski’s proposal however uses the idea of bringing back “fusion voting,” an old school term which refers to two parties coming together to vote one way on a certain candidate. Fusion voting was banned in New Jersey in 1921; Malinowski is fighting to bring it back. Abrams, while keen on the idea of a “Moderate Party,” isn’t sold on Malinowski’s idea. “It’s hardly a phrase that’s understandable or relatable, I’m not sure I even know exactly what (fusion voting) means,” Abrams said on NewsNation’s “Dan Abrams Live.” “It’s not clear to me at all that allowing candidates to be listed as representing multiple parties… is going to change the dynamic at all.” Richard Wolfe, the organizer of the new Moderate Party, argued on “Dan Abrams Live” that this new party can indeed gain traction with voters. “We’re very persistent,” Wolfe said. “It’s also timing, I believe that the vast majority of my fellow Republicans no longer feel like the Republican party represents their values. There is now this large pool of homeless voters, this is the time to create a home.” The full debate between Wolfe and Abrams can be viewed in the video above.
The Moderate Middle Is A Myth | FiveThirtyEight
The Moderate Middle Is A Myth Graphics by Ella Koeze Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Independent voters will decide the election. Or better yet: Moderate voters will decide the election. Or, wait for it … If Democrats can move to the middle, they will win in 2020. These tropes conjure up a particular image: a pivotal bloc of reasonable “independent” voters sick of the two major parties, just waiting for a centrist candidate to embrace a “moderate” policy vision. And there’s a reason this perception exits: You see just that if you look only at topline polling numbers, which show 40-plus percent of voters refusing to identify with a party, or close to 40 percent of voters calling themselves moderates.1 But topline polling numbers mask an underlying diversity of political thought that is far more complicated. Moderate, independent and undecided voters are not the same, and none of these groups are reliably centrist. They are ideologically diverse, so there is no simple policy solution that will appeal to all of them. To better understand the unbearable incoherence of moderates, independents and undecideds, let’s start by visualizing them. Drawing on data from the Democracy Fund Voter Study Group,2 a research consortium that works with YouGov to conduct large-scale surveys, I pulled voters who3 … Identified as “moderate” Identified as “independent,” even when pressed to pick a party4 Said they were undecided on how they would vote in a 2020 match-up between President Trump and a generic Democrat. Here’s how big each group is in the electorate overall, and how much they overlap: Despite some overlap among independents, moderates and undecided voters, each group is relatively distinct. However, this doesn’t necessarily mean there are cohesive ideological beliefs within each group. To test this, I used policy questions from the same Voter Study Group survey to make two indexes5 measuring attitudes on economic policy and immigration. I chose these two issues because they are perhaps the two most central in national politics, and they represent competing dimensions of political conflict — few voters hold consistently middle-of-the-road opinions on both issues. The indexes range from -1 (far left) to +1 (far right).6 Overall, the electorate ranges widely along both dimensions. But broadly, there are two major clusters: Democratic voters populate the lower-left part of the distribution (liberal on both economics and immigration), and Republicans populate the upper-right part of the distribution (conservative on both issues). Independent voters, however, come from all over the ideological map: Some independents are market-oriented and anti-immigration. More are the opposite. Many are consistent liberals on economic and immigration policy questions. Some are consistent conservatives. Some are somewhere in the middle. So, next time anybody says that some policy position will win over genuine independent voters, they aren’t addressing an obvious question: Which independent voters? Are independents also “moderates?” It depends how you define “moderate.” If you define moderates based on self-identification, then the answer is: sort of. More than half — 58 percent — of self-identified independents in the Voter Study Group data also identify as moderate, compared to 27 percent who identify as conservative and just 15 percent who identify as liberal. But many people who call themselves “moderate” do not rate as moderate on…
Democrats in America are realising they must moderate or die
Democrats in America are realising they must moderate or die Jul 14th 2022 | WASHINGTON, DCPerhaps no place has been a haven for counter-culture quite like San Francisco. The Bay Area has hosted psychedelic enthusiasts, beat writers and gay-rights activists. Now another variety of counter-culture may have sprung up in the city. Unexpectedly for the epicentre of leftism in America, however, it is one of mass discontent with progressive excesses.Listen to this story. Enjoy more audio and podcasts on iOS or Android.Your browser does not support the element.Save time by listening to our audio articles as you multitaskIn February, San Franciscans took the remarkable step of recalling three members of the local board of education who resembled a caricature of wokeness. Despite keeping schools closed for an exceptionally long period, thus harming the least-advantaged children, the board found time to recommend renaming 44 closed schools—including those named after Abraham Lincoln and George Washington—on social-justice grounds. Then on June 7th, Chesa Boudin, the progressive district attorney of San Francisco, lost his own recall election. Mr Boudin’s compassion for the incarcerated and calls for less punitive punishment were not too radical for the city three years ago. By 2022 that had changed, amid a nationwide rise in homicides and local disaffection over petty crime, open-air drug taking and homelessness.London Breed, the city’s moderate-leaning mayor, has begun forcefully arguing for more police—not fewer, as was once voguish in progressive circles. “The reign of criminals who are destroying our city, it is time for it to come to an end,” she said in December. “And it comes to an end when we take the steps to be more aggressive with law enforcement…and less tolerant of all the bullshit that has destroyed our city.”Look elsewhere in America, and a similar backlash is emerging. On matters like crime, immigration and schooling, voters—even in left-leaning cities—are eschewing progressive slogans and policies that came to prominence in the fervid summer of 2020 when George Floyd was murdered, covid-19 was raging and Democrats were dreaming of a Rooseveltian transformation of America. These are all signs that Democrats are passing peak progressive. The calls are not just coming from within cities, but from working-class and non-white voters—the ostensible beneficiaries of progressive policies. Many expanded redistribution programmes are popular. But the ambitions of the Biden administration have been deflated by the realities of governance. A premature learned helplessness seems to have already cast a pall over its congressional leaders. The reality is setting in that the party faces serious losses in the mid-term elections which will cripple the chance for meaningful legislation.Amazingly, it will probably lose to a party that still embraces Donald Trump despite his attempt to subvert democracy, as the ongoing hearings from the January 6th congressional committee have forensically detailed. The Republican Party has articulated no political agenda other than grievance. That means that the Republican message is relatively simple to express: that Democrats are economically incompetent socialists who are trying to open borders, demonise police, indoctrinate children and ruin America. That message will probably win in 2022. It could even carry Mr Trump back into the White House in 2024. Suddenly the clamours for a course correction start to make sense.Slam it to the leftThe drift of the Democratic Party towards its progressive faction has been apparent for a long time. Joe Biden, whose personal policies have shifted with the party’s political winds for decades, is as good a weathervane as any. The lifelong moderate, who once decried mandatory busing to integrate schools in the 1970s and enthusiastically supported welfare reform and tough-on-crime policies in the 1990s, reversed himself completely and ran well to the left of Barack Obama in 2020. Yet he was still the relative moderate of the primary field. That shift registers on political scientists’ seismographs, too. Data from the Manifesto Project, a corpus of political-party platforms from 50 countries, show that the Democratic…