Former Republicans and Democrats to form new third US political party

The new party, called Forward, will initially be co-chaired by former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang and Christine Todd Whitman, the former Republican governor of New Jersey, with the hope of becoming a viable alternative to the Republican and Democratic parties that dominate U.S. politics, founding members told Reuters.

Party leaders will hold a series of events in two dozen cities this fall to roll out its platform and attract support, host an official launch in Houston on Sept. 24, and its first national convention in a major U.S. city next summer.

The new party is being formed by a merger on Thursday of three political groups that have recently formed as a reaction to America's increasingly polarized and gridlocked political system, and with polls showing two-thirds of Americans favouring a third party, a record number.

The merger involves the Renew America Movement, formed in 2021 by dozens of former officials in the Republican administrations of Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush and Trump; the Forward Party, founded by Yang, who left the Democratic Party in 2021 and became an independent; and the Serve America Movement, a group of Democrats, Republicans and independents founded by former Republican congressman David Jolly.

Leaders of the new party told Reuters they are in talks with "multiple" current Republican and Democratic members of Congress about defecting to Forward, but declined to give exact numbers or names.

Third parties in America's two-party system have often been tried and have failed. Occasionally they can impact a presidential election. Many believe Ralph Nader's Green Party siphoned off enough votes from Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore in the 2000 presidential election to allow Republican George W. Bush to win the White House.

It is unclear how the new Forward party might impact either party's electoral prospects, in such a deeply polarized country. Analysts are sceptical that it can succeed.

Forward aims to gain party registration and ballot access in 30 states by the end of 2023 and in all 50 states by late 2024, in time for the 2024 presidential and congressional elections. It aims to field candidates for local races, such as school board and city council, in state houses, the U.S. Congress and all the way up to the presidential level.

In an interview, Yang said the party will start with an existing budget of approximately $5 million, has donors lined up, and a grassroots membership between the three merged groups numbering in the hundreds of thousands. The goal is to raise $50 million in the next 18 months.

"We are starting in a very strong financial position. Financial support will not be a problem," Yang said.

Another person involved in the creation of Forward, Miles Taylor - a former Homeland Security official in the administration of former Republican President Donald Trump - said the idea was to give voters "a viable, credible national third party."

Taylor said the essential platform of the party was simple: finding practical political solutions that were not rooted in extremist Left or Right ideologies.

Taylor acknowledged that third parties had failed in the past, but said: "The fundamentals have changed. 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. The difference here is we are seeing a historic number of Americans saying they want one."

The group says it has put together a "kitchen cabinet" of advisors, including Jim Glassman, a former undersecretary of state under George W. Bush, and Eric Grossman, a senior member of Morgan Stanley.

Stu Rothenberg, a veteran non-partisan political analyst, said: "I’ve seen this movie before. It’s easy to talk about establishing a third party but almost impossible to do so. The two major political parties start with huge advantages, including fifty state parties built over decades."

Rothenberg pointed out that third-party presidential candidates like John Anderson in 1980 and Ross Perot in 1992 and 1996 flamed out, failing to build a true third party that became a factor in national politics.

Rothenberg added: "Of course, these are strange times. The leaders of the two major parties - Joe Biden and Donald Trump - are unpopular, and the parties seem to be moving to the ideological fringes. That could make this that rare moment when voters really are looking for an alternative and a real third party - just don't bet on that happening."