"How come you don't have a platform yet?"
"What is your position on [culture war issue X]?"
These are questions you may frequently hear as a Forwardist. While we can't provide answers that will satisfy everyone, we do our best to explain the following:
- The two major parties have plenty of issues they don't tend to take explicit positions on. For example, think about election reform, including alternative voting methods, campaign finance reform, open primaries, primary schedules - it's not often that these are incorporated into the major parties' platforms. They might stealthily support or oppose certain aspects, but in their eyes, it seems these aren't "winning issues". And yet, many Americans view election reform as a top priority. Forward is here to fill that void.
- For many of the "culture war" issues, reasonable citizens can hold opposing views on them. Perhaps the answer for Utah is not the same as that for New York - and that's ok! In addition, some of these "issues" are so obscure or non-essential to daily life that many Americans simply aren't that interested - extremists from both sides simply find a topic to further drive the wedge between well-meaning Americans. Forward exists to focus on solving structural and "less polarizing" issues that the majority of Americans agree on and will have a greater impact on the lives of most Americans.
- If you have a particular "culture war" issue that is particularly important to you, consider this for a minute: has the government made meaningful progress on it within the last few decades? More likely that not, it hasn't. Why? Increasing polarization, distorted incentives, and pure corruption may be to blame. Why work with the other side to address and implement common-sense solutions around immigration, for example, when you can simply use it as a messaging weapon against the opposing party to win your seat in the upcoming election? Forward seeks to rectify the corrupted incentives that leave Congress floundering instead of delivering for the American people.
If these answers don't satisfy you - we want to talk about it! Come join our Discord, where we'd be happy to have a more in-depth conversation.
