Why You Should Join a Political Party
What Happens When We Don’t Join Political Parties?
A lot of us do not quite fit the mold when it comes to partisan politics. In fact, more Americans identify as independents (38%) than as Democrats (31%) or Republicans (26%). While 2016’s presidential election is seen by many as the straw that broke the camel’s back, only 28.5% of Americans voted in the Democratic and Republican primaries that year whereas 55.7% voted in the general election. Voter participation rates are even lower in midterm elections and local races. In other words, Americans complaining about the two choices on their ballots can do a lot more to ensure less-extreme candidates have viable paths to victory.
While most Americans do not feel represented in the duopoly, the two major political parties remain instrumental for enacting change that will give more of them representation in Congress. For this reason, those of us who are not passionately conservative or progressive must understand the importance of working within the two party system for enacting needed reforms in our country.
Andrew Yang and the Forward Party
Former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang made headlines by launching the Forward Party, a new political party, in October 2021. Yang’s conviction is that the two-party system is fostering division rather than bringing people together to solve the country’s challenges. He states that “42% of both parties regard the other as not just mistaken but evil.” A fan of statistics, Yang also notes that “approval of Congress stands at about 28% while individual members sport re-election rates of 92%.”
His current main objective with the Forward Party is to support ranked choice voting and open primaries across the country. This would allow everyone to participate in the candidate selection process and even rank candidates in the general election in order of preference. One could vote for an independent or politically heterodox candidate as their first choice and then list the remaining candidates in order of preference. If their first choice proves to be unsuccessful, their votes go to their highest ranked viable candidate. In other words, there is no spoiler effect because voters can also ensure that their “idealistic” votes do not end up inadvertently benefiting the candidates with whom they least agree.
The interesting caveat to Yang’s approach that differs from other third parties is that he encourages people to retain their major party registrations in circumstances where officially registering with the Forward Party would remove them from participating in the Democratic and Republican primaries. The party is also beginning to endorse candidates with multiple partisan affiliations across the US.
It also openly invites a diverse ideological coalition. Yang even enthusiastically tweeted a follower’s comment that they would join the Forward Party until the duopoly is broken and then consider other options
The Forward model is groundbreaking. It is not trying to directly contest for every seat across the country. It identifies ranked choice voting and open primaries as the necessary prerequisites for breaking the political duopoly and is working within the two-party system to help elect officials committed towards that end.
Chris Butler, a free thinking Democrat
Chris Butler, a candidate for Congress in the Illinois 1st Congressional District, is making headlines for creating his own rulebook. He is a lifelong Democrat who once campaigned to help elect then-candidate Barack Obama to the US Senate. He is also a faithful son of the church, serving as a pastor in his local community. Pastor Chris understands what it means to play for a team and also understands that it does not mean compromising one’s own convictions. As a pastor, he does not shy away from where the Democratic Party’s platform and his own convictions diverge.
Pastor Chris recognizes the tension between religion, politics, and pluralism and is proposing solutions to turn down the temperature in many of the contentious issues of the day. For example, he endorses the Fairness for All Act as a measure to grant both full civic rights to the LGBT+ community and religious freedom protections for faith-based institutions such as hospitals and universities. In a day where politicians on both sides of the aisle are looking merely to defeat those with whom they disagree, Pastor Chris is looking to champion solutions that uphold a civic pluralism where everyone wins.
What is also intriguing about Pastor Chris is he is no mere moderate, but someone who advocates for what he actually believes in. This means he champions policies that may be considered conservative such as his pro-life position and those that may be considered progressive such as his support for a Basic Income Guarantee.
While Pastor Chris is running in the primary of a major party, he also knows how to coalition-build to strengthen his campaign. For example, he welcomes the endorsement of the American Solidarity Party, an alternative political party, and Democrats for Life of America, a group of Democrats who challenge the direction of their party leadership on life issues.
Evan McMullin, a conservative Senate candidate endorsed by the Utah Democratic Party
Evan McMullin is one of the most iconic faces of the Never Trump movement to emerge since 2016. Since then, he has formed the Renew America Movement to try and combat extremism within the Republican Party and conservatism at large. While he remains a conservative, McMullin is no longer a Republican and is pursuing a Senate seat in Utah as an independent. He is seeking to unseat Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), an obstructive Senator who is a strong supporter of former President Donald Trump and also worked to overturn the 2020 presidential election results.
However, what distinguishes McMullin’s Senate run is that he is no mere longshot. He has the support of the Democratic Party in Utah.
When assessing the political landscape, Utah Democrats knew that it would be virtually impossible for them to nominate a candidate who could win a statewide election in today’s climate. They ultimately realized that electing a pro-democracy conservative who can win a statewide election was significantly better than nominating a progressive candidate who would only go on to lose to Sen. Lee.
These Democrats therefore made the unprecedented decision not to nominate one of their own for the state’s Senate election and threw their support behind McMullin. Democratic Party leaders in Utah, such as former Rep. Ben McAdams and Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson worked hard to drum up support for McMullin from within the party. McMullin, like Pastor Chris, has also welcomed third parties into the fold and proudly celebrates his support from the United Utah Party, a centrist political party in the state.
As he prepares to challenge Sen. Lee in the general election, McMullin is holding quite a team together. He remarks,
We have a tremendous amount of common ground (in) this coalition of Democrats, independents, principled Republicans ... who want to make a change…This idea that our differences are greater than what we have in common are just false.
If this effort proves to be successful, it will be a real game changer. Utah’s other Senator, Mitt Romney, a Republican, has been very much on the fence about whether or not he will run for re-election, largely because of the fact he would likely face a competitive primary with a radicalized electorate. If McMullin is able to win, perhaps Romney would consider avoiding the Republican primary process and entering the general election as an independent with support from the state’s Democratic party as well. While Utah is a strongly conservative state, the approach could also be applied in a liberal state where Republicans could consider working with independents and moderate Democrats to nominate center-left candidates who are viable and can compete against the progressive wing of the party.
Lessons Learned
It is not easy being politically homeless or being orphaned by one’s own political party for refusing to abandon deeply held convictions. However, these three case studies show the importance of political party participation. Both of the two major parties need constituencies who can pull them towards the center and there is merit to organizing from within. Yang’s Forward Party and his emphasis on open primaries and ranked choice voting is providing a good roadmap for those who want more options on the ballot. The Forward Party’s endorsements of candidates from other political parties along with Butler and McMullin’s coalition building with the American Solidarity Party and the United Utah Party, respectively, are great examples for how mainstream candidates facing uphill battles and minor political parties, who would otherwise be obsolete, can build strong coalitions together. Furthermore, the coalition between McMullin and the Democratic Party in Utah shows us a new way forward for how independents and major parties can work together to defeat political extremists. All of these examples reflect the importance that political parties play in giving independents and independent-minded candidates politically viable pathways to election victory. The two major parties, for all of their faults, remain necessary even if one is seeking to ultimately destroy the two-party system or help organize coalitions behind independent-minded candidates. Voters should also do their own due diligence to learn about their respective state election laws and what the pros and cons are of major party versus independent/unaffiliated/third party registration in their given situations.