BILLBOARD News Now
A 2028 Approach
(Editor’s note: There is a significant amount of dissatisfaction with the two-party system. Former WV Senator Joe Manchin in a Washington Post Op Ed says, “voters do not need another political party…they need independent-minded leaders willing to put the country above party and self.” He offers a thoughtful plan for 2028. He is part of an Independent Leadership Council designed to recruit and support candidates who will run as true independents.)
Nearly half of America no longer identifies with Democrats or Republicans, making independents the largest potential voting bloc in the country. According to Americans Together, unaffiliated voters outnumber those registered with either major party in 16 states and 106 congressional districts.
Yet the two parties control so much of the political system that it is extremely difficult for an independent candidate to compete. In many states, independent candidates must collect thousands more signatures than Democrats or Republicans just to appear on the ballot. If participation is limited, so is competition. Without competition, voters are less likely to get to choose between the best possible candidates.
That, unfortunately, is exactly what has happened to the American political system. The two dominant parties have become increasingly extreme, leaving Congress more divided and less competent. George Washington warned about the dangers of political parties 230 years ago. He cautioned that political factions could become potent engines for the unprincipled to subvert the power of the people and usurp the reins of government. Look at D.C. today, and one can see exactly how true that statement has become.
The system wasn’t designed for political parties to run the country. It was designed to provide representation and a vehicle for Americans to work through differences and come up with solutions for political problems. That means putting the public good ahead of personal agendas and party loyalty.
Americans are dealing with a high cost of living and an ever-rising, unsustainable national debt. They are concerned about the quality of life they are leaving their children and grandchildren. These problems are too important to neglect just because two parties cannot find a way to work together.
A truly independent member of Congress could begin to change that dynamic — someone who was elected as an independent, doesn’t caucus with either party, and remains free to work with Democrats and Republicans, controlled by neither. I know firsthand that one person can make a difference because, at times, I was that one person. While serving in the U.S. Senate, I tried to bring both sides together to do things that were good for the country.
In a closely divided Congress, we were able to accomplish important things by working together. I navigated both sides of a 50-50 Senate, pulling together five Democrats and five Republicans to support a roughly $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure agreement that passed in a 69-30 vote.
Independence is not an ideology. It is the freedom to think for yourself and support the best ideas, whether they come from Republicans or Democrats. Independent leaders owe their votes not to a party but to their country, to their constituents and to the oath they took to protect and defend the Constitution.
Too many Americans feel hopeless and politically homeless. They see a dysfunctional government run by warring parties that spend more time fighting each other than working for the people who elected them.
Voters do not need another political party telling them what to believe. They need independent-minded leaders willing to put the country above party and self. So why should voters support independents? Working within the two parties has been tried for decades with unsatisfactory results. Let independents run and compete to govern without answering to either party. Let their success show more good people a path to public service. Successful independent candidates would prove to voters that they do not have to settle for stale choices from the two-party system.
Strong independent candidates, including Seth Bodnar, running for the U.S. Senate in Montana, and Rep. Kevin Kiley of California, are on ballots across the country, standing up to a two-party system that is rigged against them. I encourage American voters to give independent candidates serious consideration whenever they see one on the ballot.
Changing Washington takes far fewer people than you think. With very slim margins between the two parties in the House and Senate, the votes of a handful of true independents could be critical to getting anything done — as I know from my time in the Senate.
That experience taught me something I believe deeply. Independent leadership is not about standing alone. It is about having the freedom and the leverage to bring both sides together and ask the question every member of Congress should be asking: What is best for the people I represent and the country I serve?
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