Shawn Griffiths
Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore / Flickr
In his latest podcast, Andrew Yang fielded questions from his audience, including his thoughts on the presidential election, making the case for a third party like the Forward Party, and the importance of systemic election reform.
Yang is now long removed from Democratic politics and is focused on the Forward Party and bolstering momentum for reforms like ranked choice voting and open primaries. On making the case for his party, he says:
"What I like to use in the shorthand is, 'Wouldn't you love to have a party that is pragmatic, that is not ideological, that is all about solutions and will listen to data?'"
He added that if this is "your jam" then people should get involved with the Forward Party.
The party is not tied to an ideology, but that doesn't mean members have to be free of ideology. Yang has his own views and political beliefs and someone with different ideas can also be a part of the Forward Party.
"Pragmatically, you would endorse the Democratic or Republican who happens to be for opening up the system, if it exists," Yang said.
Election reform is a priority issue for the Forward Party. Yang has been vocal for years about his support for opening up primaries to ensure all voters have an equal say as well has his support for ranked choice voting.
Ranked choice voting, in particular, has substantial momentum behind it right now -- but it also faces some challenges as reformers push it to new municipalities and states.
"There is one big challenge and that is money," Yang remarked. He joked that if a billion dollars was dropped on him to make ranked choice voting happen, it would happen.
It speaks to the need for resources. If a reform initiative fails or struggles to get off the ground, it is because there isn't enough money and resources attached to the campaign.
An initiative can also fail because voter education on ranked choice voting is still not where it needs to be in many areas across the US -- which Yang notes "is tied to resources."
Those who benefit from the status quo will do all they can to skew the message away from change. This includes institutional behemoths with a lot of recourses at their disposal.
Yang talks more about the need for reform, why Democrats get it wrong when they say Trump is a "threat to democracy," his ongoing push for universal basic income, and more. Check out the Q&A above.