A New Party?

For John, BLUF:  The two primary parties, the Democrats and the Republicans, are such a shambles that folks are always being tempted to form a new, clean, respectable, third party.  It workeed once, in 1854, when the Republican Party was formed.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

---

Andrew Yang says he officially left the Democratic Party

From Axios, by Reporter Oriana Gonzalez, 4 October 2021.

Here is the lede plus one:

Andrew Yang announced on Monday that he changed his voter registration from "Democrat" to "Independent," calling the move a "strangely emotional experience."

What he's saying: While Yang said he has identified as a Democrat for years and has "dozens of friends and confidantes who are entrenched in the Democratic Party," he is "confident that no longer being a Democrat is the right thing."

• "My goal is to do as much as I can to advance our society. There are phenomenal public servants doing great work every day — but our system is stuck. It is stuck in part because polarization is getting worse than ever," Yang said.
• He said he has always been at odds with the Democratic Party: "I’m not very ideological. I’m practical. Making partisan arguments — particularly expressing what I often see as performative sentiment — is sometimes uncomfortable for me."
• "I’m actually more comfortable trying to fix the system than being a part of it."

The big picture: Yang's announcement comes a day before his book, "Forward: Notes on the Future of Our Democracy," is set to be released.

I think the odds are against a third party at this time, but Mr Yang is a surprising character and he might be able to pull this off, especially given that the Democratic Party has lurched so far to its Progressive side that it has thrown some of its active legislators off to the side.

We will see how Mr Yang does in his race for Mayor of New York City.

Hat tip to the Drudge Report.

Regards  —  Cliff