The Radical Centrist: Gov Christine Todd Whitman and The Forward Party: Let Every Voice Be Heard

Tuesday, March 28, 2023

Gov Christine Todd Whitman and The Forward Party: Let Every Voice Be Heard

Wikipedia

Let Every Voice Be Heard

It's probably a measure of how deeply divided politics has become that when Former Florida Republican Congressman David Jolly, former Pennsylvania Democratic Representative Joe Sestak, 2020 Presidential candidate Andrew Yang, and Governor Christine Todd Whitman joined forces to found the Forward Party in 2021 they had to hone the issues on which they would work down to a few very basic goals. They took some heat for that from both ends of the political spectrum but they have persisted. Largely because they all knew something was deeply wrong with the system and that some fundamental reforms around voting - like instituting ranked-choice voting - would be required to really kick start their efforts. Reforms that the current party system, mired in the past and completely corrupted by money and power, were not going to do anything about.

So their primary goals are the reduction of partisan polarization and implementation of electoral reforms.

But here's the thing . . . they didn't just complain about how things were, they took action and today they are the third largest "party" in terms of numbers in the US. That alone is a testament to the power of their message with a lot of Americans who are feeling disenfranchised by the political system but determined not to allow that to come between them and their civic responsibility and their patriotic beliefs.

Interestingly enough, the net result of this has been to create a true big-tent political party where people of goodwill can join together and work for change.

Dance of the Lupine and Birch

Christine Todd Whitman served as the 50th governor of New Jersey from 1994 to 2001 and as Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency in the administration of President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2003.

Whitman graduated from Wheaton College in 1968 and began her political career in the Nixon administration Office of Economic Opportunity. Before being elected Governor of New Jersey, she founded the Republican advocacy organization Committee for Responsible Government in 1993. As of 2022, she is the only woman to have served as governor of New Jersey.

During the 2020 presidential election, Whitman endorsed Democratic nominee Joe Biden over Republican nominee Donald Trump. in 2022 She joined former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang to create the Forward Party, a centrist third party.

Forward was officially formed as a political action committee (PAC) on October 5, 2021. The PAC intends to seek recognition from the Federal Election Commission as a political party to achieve its stated goal of providing an alternative to the two major U.S. political parties.

Forward Party Website
https://www.forwardparty.com/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christine_Todd_Whitman