September 4, 2025 • 21 mins
THE FORWARD PARTY IS OFFERING ALTERNATIVES But what are they all about? Today I've got Dave Ryan on from the Forward Party here in Colorado (find their website here) on to discuss the platform and why they feel like they are a good choice in today's era where the two biggest parties may not feel right for some. Find out the full platform of the national party here, I'll chat with Dave at 1.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
You know, a lot of people, me included, have felt
politically homeless, and the way things are going, it feels
more and more like we do have a uni party,
like everything is the same no matter who you elect.
And there are other parties that are starting to gain
a little traction. One of them is the Forward Party.
And joining me right now from the Colorado Forward Party
(00:23):
is Dave Ryan to talk about what the Forward Party
stands for. If you're looking for a political home, you
may want to listen up, Dave.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Welcome to the show.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
First of all, all right, thanks for having me, Mandie.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
So let me.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
Start by asking you the simple question. Give me your
elevator speech about the Forward Party. Give me your ninety
seconds on what you guys are doing, what it's about,
and why people should be interested in learning more.
Speaker 4 (00:47):
Seri.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
Okay, yeah.
Speaker 4 (00:48):
More and more hoters feel like they don't belong to
either party. I feel like they're political orphans. So that
you just mentioned and Forward is building a national movement.
Are home for them, and we are the fastest growing
new political movement in the country. And it's built around
the idea that Americans deserve more choice and more voices
(01:10):
in their democracy. Our polling and polling that we look
across is there's fifty percent of younger adults wish there
were more than two parties. Forty three percent across the
country identify as independence. Around affiliateds here in Colorado is
just past fifty percent now. And if you look at
(01:30):
this registration statistics here in Colorado, Democrats and Republicans are
losing registered voters. Unaffiliateds are climbing rapidly and currently total
more than all Democrats and Republicans combined. So it was
originally formed by good government and governance groups from the
left and the right to come together to work on
(01:54):
system wide approaches that we believe are dividing us rather
than bringing together. It's all about incentives. In our current
system provides incentives that separate us, and the primaries are
just a great example of.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
How that works.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
I'm right there with you when it comes to primary politics,
because our current system incentivizes a run to the hard
right or the hard left, because unfortunately voters don't engage
in the primaries, So you tend to get the most
politically purer, to use a word, the people that are
the most passionate about their party, and they tend to
be either the hardest right or the hardest left. So
(02:32):
we then have candidates that run to those edges, and
even if they try and moderate after you know, they
win the primary, you're still dealing with people that are
not necessarily working in what I call the biggest part
of the political spectrum, which is the flexible center. Right,
the people that maybe pro gun rights on this side,
but they may be pro environmental regulations on another side. Right,
(02:55):
I mean, people that hold varied positions that don't pass
the political purity test.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
And when I first moved to Colorado, that was.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
One of the things I loved about Colorado is you
would see a pro Second Amendment bumper sticker right next
to a Sierra Club bumper sticker.
Speaker 4 (03:09):
Right.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
I mean, there's just you could support whatever you wanted
to support.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
That has changed dramatically here, And what does the Forward
Party want to do? Let's start with that dynamic. What
do you want to do to change that dynamic?
Speaker 4 (03:22):
Well, first off, from a good governance and systems perspective,
so we are firm supporters of independent resistricting nationwide, which
we're fortunate to here in Colorado. That was something that
Colorado embraced recently, which you know, we believe it's just
a great thing to put bringing more of that power
(03:43):
back into the voter's hands rather than the political parties.
We also believe that every vote should count. Right now
with the first past the posts elections, and many elections,
somebody with less than fifty percent can often win. We
believed in things like ranked choice voting, where every vote
counts every like, for my case, in a minor party,
(04:08):
people can vote for a minor party but not be
a spoiler in the overall election.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
If people are worried.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
About let's call that what it is, Dave like, people say,
you're wasting your vote. If you vote for that third
party candidate, you're wasting your vote. I wasted my vote
in two thousand and voted for Ralph Nader. I would
have been horrified if he'd won, but I was voting
for the viability of a third party candidate.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
I love ranked choice voting.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
I think it's a great idea, and once politicians start
to understand it, I think they will embrace it as well.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
I think so. I think I think there's a great example.
Speaker 4 (04:40):
I mean, we've had several examples just in the last
couple election cycles where.
Speaker 3 (04:46):
A minor party actually changed the election. You know, a congressional.
Speaker 4 (04:50):
District EID is a great example where Barbara Kirkmeyer ended
up losing, but it was a very close race, and
you know that there was in my opinion, and that
was a spoiler situation.
Speaker 3 (05:01):
Now, the liberty we don't want that. We want we
do the ability for.
Speaker 4 (05:04):
People to vote who they want to without ruining the
the you know, the the chances of the main candidates.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
So what are some of the others.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
Well, I've talked a lot about ring choice voting on
the show, so I don't want to derail this conversation
by going deep on that. What are some of the
other ways that you would would perceive it would be
effective to to slow down the polarization or maybe bring
us back together.
Speaker 4 (05:27):
So open primaries to me is a is a is
a great thing. It is It's something that there was
a run taken at its last last election cycle. It
didn't succeed. It took on a number of points to
try to combine it all together on that balance proposition
to me, having a primary where whatever part of the
(05:52):
spectrum you are associate with, you are all combined into
a single primary and the voters choose, you know, the
top four or five, and then those four or five
go on to a general election. It is it forces
every candidate instead of pandering to the extremes, It forces
them to not only focus on their base, but also
(06:15):
on the modern the moderate, flexible middle has to come
along with them, and they have to win those hearts
and minds to be able to be effective in the
in the election.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
So let me ask this, because what I see on
the Forward Party platform, and I've been to the website,
I have dug through all the issues.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
For me, everything begins and ends.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
I'm a single issue voter, and that is debt and spending,
because I think that is like the tip of the
spear in our country because without without managing that, nothing
else is going to matter. Right when we run out
of money and we can no longer no one's buying
our debt and we're just printing money like mad, then
people will begin to understand how significant the debt is.
But I don't see a lot or or a lot
(06:56):
of specifics about.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
Those angle issues like abortion.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
It's not in here at People on the on the
text line right now saying is the Forward Party pro
life or pro choice. UH. For me, it's about debt
and spending, because all things begin an end for that.
What other policy positions have you guys talked about or
when will those be developed?
Speaker 2 (07:18):
If at all?
Speaker 3 (07:20):
That's a that's a development situation.
Speaker 4 (07:22):
Maybe the the uh what we don't want to do,
which which really makes us unique as far enders as
I understand in the political environment, is we don't have
a top down, uh driven platform that says every candidate
must follow this these rules or you're going to run
and follow the party. Right, So somebody in Grand Junction
(07:44):
is going to be different than Boulder, It's going to
be different than Pueblock. And we we have a number,
you know, the many relationships at all levels of government
now that uh, and we talked with people you know,
you know pro gun, as you mentioned before, pro gun,
pro environmental, pro life, and there are so many common
(08:07):
you know, folks who aren't you know, who aren't driven
towards that single issue that realize that we as a
society have to deal with a lot of different things
and we need the best people to come forward and
work together with people that are different than them to
come up with a solution that works for their communities.
(08:27):
Here in Colorado, Colorado Forward Party, we're focused on the
state level, so we're not so much focused on what
goes on at the national level, even though it kind
of sucks the oxygen out of the room.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
Sometimes.
Speaker 4 (08:41):
We're focused on what's right for our communities, and we
want candidates who put a priority on serving their community.
That's got to be priority number one, and it's got
to be you know, candidates, whether whether they're from the
right side or the left side or in between, they
commit to us that they will work with their peers
(09:02):
to come up with solutions for their community.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
I actually like that.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
I tell people on this show all the time, and
I mean it that as much as we talk about
federal politics, as much as we talk about the Trump administration,
as much as we talk about Congress, the stuff that
happens here in Colorado has a much more direct and
immediate impact on.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
Our lives at a very visceral level.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
So I think that's a very smart move too many people,
And I look at the Libertarian Party in this case,
they run a presidential candidate every single presidential cycle, but
they're not running anybody in the school board elections, right
They're not running anything in the county Commission races.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
So I think it's a very smart play.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
And it sounds like and I'm not that was a
little bit of a hedge on your part, but it
almost sounded like we're gonna let candidates make their own
decisions about social issues.
Speaker 4 (09:50):
Is that part of the plan, that is that is
essential to us moving forward here? And because you know,
every community is different, every to every candidate is different.
We are going to be developing a platform over time,
but it's got to come from the ground up. And
as we build our base here in Colorado, as we
(10:10):
build it nationally, we're first going to start here in
Colorado and and come together on the issues that unite us.
And and we're also going to ask our candidates to
take a very you know, a very earnest and hard
working effort at resolving some of those those critical cultural
issues that divide us. Well, we don't we don't take
(10:33):
a hard position on some of those things that you
just mentioned.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
What what are the hard planks?
Speaker 1 (10:40):
What what are the things that you feel like are
the key cornerstones of the forward party that if you
had to tick the boxes and say here's what's really
important to us, that we do want you to focus
on what are those things?
Speaker 4 (10:52):
So if if I look at you know, I mentioned
the the the ability for every vote to count, right,
and do we call it ranked choice voting or uh,
you know, a different form of that where every voters
has an ability to choose, Hey, here's my first choice,
but here's my second choice. If the first person doesn't win.
(11:14):
That engages every voter, and it causes our our candidates
to appeal to a much broader spectrum than they normally would.
I mentioned open primaries absolutely, and for a minor party,
I mean rank choice voice voting is essential for a
minor party to be able to express itself and have voters,
(11:35):
you know, express their opinion. And we may not win
a race, but well, our talent will increase just because
that people will realize I can vote for forward first,
but boy, that Democrat or Republican is likely going to win,
so I'm going to vote them second, right, And and
so that's real. Open primaries I just see as essential
to removing the captivity that our political leaders have over
(12:03):
over politicians. Open primaries free up our elected officials to
be able to vote their conscience. And we've seen a
number of cases where candidates would prefer to vote something different,
but they're forced into positions to go along with the party.
We've got to find a way to break that cycle.
(12:25):
And uh, you know, just I get to like good governance.
Speaker 3 (12:28):
We've had.
Speaker 4 (12:30):
Down testifying in front of the Legislature on a couple
of different issues good governance around just basic things like
you know, our our constitution. We have a requirement that
every county have three commissioners for you know, a certain population,
and it's optional if you grow, you can still stay
with three if you want. That sets up some pretty
(12:54):
our dynamics when now you're county is you know, a
five hundred thousand people and you still have three commissioners.
But because of the way we elect those commissioners in
that county, political party controls the process.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
Douglas County, you're talking about Douglas County.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
Not the names, right, that's the names.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
I'm just saying, you're talking about Douglas County. And I'm
right there with you, Dave, I'm right there.
Speaker 3 (13:18):
There's a couple of them. There's a couple of so
you know, we we have we have.
Speaker 4 (13:24):
People elected officials that we support and I'll shout out
Bob Marshall as one. We have elected officials that we
support that are that drive those kind of that drive
those kind of discussions, you know, vacancy boating or vacancy sold.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
Many vacancy committees of garbage.
Speaker 5 (13:42):
Colorado is notorious nationwide the number of people that we
haven't elected office that gout there by vacancy and end
up going on and because they're now incumbents, they have
a much greater chance. We have thirty percent of the
legislators came through the venacancy appointment process.
Speaker 3 (13:59):
There was some I'm gonna let me go into this
if I could. I mean, we have legislation passed this year.
Speaker 4 (14:09):
That triggers if a person resigns within a certain time
frame after election, it forces a special election in an
odd year, which we don't haven't haven't done before here
in Colorado. And coincidentally one of the bills, two days
after it became effective, a commissioner in al Paso County
(14:32):
resigned and that triggered an appointment which was quite contested,
and it.
Speaker 3 (14:38):
Triggers a special election on November fourth. In that election.
Speaker 4 (14:44):
Limits who can participate as a candidate, and it limits
who can vote.
Speaker 3 (14:51):
That happens.
Speaker 4 (14:52):
Yeah, it happens to be a repof we can who
resigns or a normal appointment processes.
Speaker 3 (14:58):
You have to appoint a report.
Speaker 4 (15:01):
But now we're calling this a special election funded by taxpayers,
and if you're a Democrat, you can't run as a candidate.
We have a guy that wants would run, that would
run for office.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
Yeah, we've done there is replace the people of the
vacancy committee with other partisans that will only be allowed
to vote in an election that will only have people
from their party in it.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
That's what you're telling the Well.
Speaker 4 (15:29):
Another was some negotiations that allows unaffiliated voters to vote
in that election, but Democrats registered Democrats can't vote, No
minor party candidate.
Speaker 3 (15:40):
Can run, and the Democrat candidate can't run in us
what we call a special election.
Speaker 4 (15:45):
That should be it's a taxpayer funded election and it
constrains who can run or who can vote. I just
didn't that'd be the type of thing that we're be
We kind of scratch our head.
Speaker 1 (15:56):
So essentially, the Forward Party seems to be focused like
a laser on the strung true imbalances that have created
an unfair advantage for the two party system. I mean,
that's really what it gets down to, right, Yeah, exactly no.
Speaker 4 (16:07):
But the two major parties control everything, right, and we
have we have to find from a system perspective, the
ability to I mean moost two major parties are essential
to our democracy. There's no, I mean no debate on this, right,
but it is it is the control that they have
and the ability to shut down other voices that need
to be heard. Uh, that that is really problematic for us. Man.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
So I just got this text message and they said,
how about a balanced budget amendment? But let me ask
that as a follow let me ask a follow up question.
When will the bigger platform items be decided? Where is
the where are we in the process of the formation
of the Forward Party? If people want to get involved
now so they can be a part of these discussions,
when will those discussions move forward? Because like it or not,
(16:53):
I agree with everything you're saying about the structural issues,
but this is like very granular politics stuff, right, most
people are are we going to have a balanced budget amendment?
Do we have a pro life or a pro choice
playing do? What are what is our opinion on various issues?
Speaker 2 (17:10):
Like how is that all getting sorted out?
Speaker 4 (17:13):
You know? That's a great question because I mean, when
do we talk about, you know, the nuts and bolts
of changing things structurally so that things are less polarizing
people's eyes beully is over ye. I mean you've got
to really be a political junkie to get into these
nuts and bolts. But it's the foundation of making improvements
in our society. Uh So, but answer answer the question directly.
(17:38):
Anybody can get involved with us right now. Go to
calif Coloradofward party dot com. There's an easy way to
sign up. Somebody will contact you and indicate where your
interests are. We have, uh, you know, weekly meetings, we
have subcommittees that are chartered on specific tasks and and
(17:58):
we have different topics that we that we do that
we do talk about and admittedly it's focused on uh
it's focused on helping our our nonpartisan candidates at school
board and municipal levels be successful. It's focused like next year,
you'll see us at the at the county and legislative level,
(18:19):
supporting various candidates and promoting certain legislation around good governance,
the the the the overall score. I mean, we're a
brand new party. We're just getting our feet on the ground.
We we intend to stay bottoms up, but that it
is essential over time that we develop platforms that people
(18:39):
can that resonate with people. And whether it's a balanced
budget or or you know, or or water rights or
you know, environmental issues. You know, everybody wants our country
to be healthy, in our communities to be healthy, and
people to be have access to you know, the success
(19:00):
will path no matter whether in the rural areas or
in an urban center. And so it's it's it's uh,
you know, that's got it. It's got to come together.
We have conceptually a Project twenty twenty eight. We and
we we had we had Project twenty twenty eight before
the other projects started, namely, but Project twenty twenty eight
(19:24):
is about because we're we're we're we're accepted in a
dozen states right now here here we have we have
ballot access here in Colorado and the total of five
states and another another seven who are recognized by those states,
and and and quite a few more states coming on
board with us. And so it's all about building a
national recognition and national visibility. Uh. And it's that brand awareness,
(19:50):
right so people and people hear the word Forward Party,
they understand what it represents, so I would say, by
you know, towards twenty twenty eight, that's what we're driving
toward too.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
Well. I want to just say this.
Speaker 1 (20:01):
One of the things that's missing from the Forward Party
national website that is I think a core issue and
incredibly important is fair districting. And if you want to
have an issue that you can get out in front
of right now, the jerrymandering that's going on all over
the country, I don't care which party's doing, and it's bad,
it's bad, bad, bad bad. But I don't see a
specific point on the Forward Party website. But Dave, let
(20:23):
me do this. We'll check back in with you periodically.
We'll find out what's going on with the Forward Party.
I'm very interested and if I have listeners out there
who are very big and concerned about some of these issues,
go ahead and get involved. They're not going to make
you stay if you don't like it, right, I mean,
if you don't enjoy it.
Speaker 4 (20:40):
You can believe life gets it the way a lot
of times. So we we certainly acknowledge that we love
people who come forward. We love people who are interested
in our democracy and making sure their communities are moving forward.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
Dave Brian from the Colorado Forward Party, A pleasure to
talk to you. We'll check back in in a few
months and see what's happening.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
New stuff in the Forward Party as well.
Speaker 4 (21:03):
Cool.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
Thank you, Madie, all right, thanks Dave,
You know, a lot of people, me included, have felt
politically homeless, and the way things are going, it feels
more and more like we do have a uni party,
like everything is the same no matter who you elect.
And there are other parties that are starting to gain
a little traction. One of them is the Forward Party.
And joining me right now from the Colorado Forward Party
(00:23):
is Dave Ryan to talk about what the Forward Party
stands for. If you're looking for a political home, you
may want to listen up, Dave.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Welcome to the show.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
First of all, all right, thanks for having me, Mandie.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
So let me.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
Start by asking you the simple question. Give me your
elevator speech about the Forward Party. Give me your ninety
seconds on what you guys are doing, what it's about,
and why people should be interested in learning more.
Speaker 4 (00:47):
Seri.
Speaker 3 (00:47):
Okay, yeah.
Speaker 4 (00:48):
More and more hoters feel like they don't belong to
either party. I feel like they're political orphans. So that
you just mentioned and Forward is building a national movement.
Are home for them, and we are the fastest growing
new political movement in the country. And it's built around
the idea that Americans deserve more choice and more voices
(01:10):
in their democracy. Our polling and polling that we look
across is there's fifty percent of younger adults wish there
were more than two parties. Forty three percent across the
country identify as independence. Around affiliateds here in Colorado is
just past fifty percent now. And if you look at
(01:30):
this registration statistics here in Colorado, Democrats and Republicans are
losing registered voters. Unaffiliateds are climbing rapidly and currently total
more than all Democrats and Republicans combined. So it was
originally formed by good government and governance groups from the
left and the right to come together to work on
(01:54):
system wide approaches that we believe are dividing us rather
than bringing together. It's all about incentives. In our current
system provides incentives that separate us, and the primaries are
just a great example of.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
How that works.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
I'm right there with you when it comes to primary politics,
because our current system incentivizes a run to the hard
right or the hard left, because unfortunately voters don't engage
in the primaries, So you tend to get the most
politically purer, to use a word, the people that are
the most passionate about their party, and they tend to
be either the hardest right or the hardest left. So
(02:32):
we then have candidates that run to those edges, and
even if they try and moderate after you know, they
win the primary, you're still dealing with people that are
not necessarily working in what I call the biggest part
of the political spectrum, which is the flexible center. Right,
the people that maybe pro gun rights on this side,
but they may be pro environmental regulations on another side. Right,
(02:55):
I mean, people that hold varied positions that don't pass
the political purity test.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
And when I first moved to Colorado, that was.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
One of the things I loved about Colorado is you
would see a pro Second Amendment bumper sticker right next
to a Sierra Club bumper sticker.
Speaker 4 (03:09):
Right.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
I mean, there's just you could support whatever you wanted
to support.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
That has changed dramatically here, And what does the Forward
Party want to do? Let's start with that dynamic. What
do you want to do to change that dynamic?
Speaker 4 (03:22):
Well, first off, from a good governance and systems perspective,
so we are firm supporters of independent resistricting nationwide, which
we're fortunate to here in Colorado. That was something that
Colorado embraced recently, which you know, we believe it's just
a great thing to put bringing more of that power
(03:43):
back into the voter's hands rather than the political parties.
We also believe that every vote should count. Right now
with the first past the posts elections, and many elections,
somebody with less than fifty percent can often win. We
believed in things like ranked choice voting, where every vote
counts every like, for my case, in a minor party,
(04:08):
people can vote for a minor party but not be
a spoiler in the overall election.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
If people are worried.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
About let's call that what it is, Dave like, people say,
you're wasting your vote. If you vote for that third
party candidate, you're wasting your vote. I wasted my vote
in two thousand and voted for Ralph Nader. I would
have been horrified if he'd won, but I was voting
for the viability of a third party candidate.
Speaker 2 (04:29):
I love ranked choice voting.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
I think it's a great idea, and once politicians start
to understand it, I think they will embrace it as well.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
I think so. I think I think there's a great example.
Speaker 4 (04:40):
I mean, we've had several examples just in the last
couple election cycles where.
Speaker 3 (04:46):
A minor party actually changed the election. You know, a congressional.
Speaker 4 (04:50):
District EID is a great example where Barbara Kirkmeyer ended
up losing, but it was a very close race, and
you know that there was in my opinion, and that
was a spoiler situation.
Speaker 3 (05:01):
Now, the liberty we don't want that. We want we
do the ability for.
Speaker 4 (05:04):
People to vote who they want to without ruining the
the you know, the the chances of the main candidates.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
So what are some of the others.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
Well, I've talked a lot about ring choice voting on
the show, so I don't want to derail this conversation
by going deep on that. What are some of the
other ways that you would would perceive it would be
effective to to slow down the polarization or maybe bring
us back together.
Speaker 4 (05:27):
So open primaries to me is a is a is
a great thing. It is It's something that there was
a run taken at its last last election cycle. It
didn't succeed. It took on a number of points to
try to combine it all together on that balance proposition
to me, having a primary where whatever part of the
(05:52):
spectrum you are associate with, you are all combined into
a single primary and the voters choose, you know, the
top four or five, and then those four or five
go on to a general election. It is it forces
every candidate instead of pandering to the extremes, It forces
them to not only focus on their base, but also
(06:15):
on the modern the moderate, flexible middle has to come
along with them, and they have to win those hearts
and minds to be able to be effective in the
in the election.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
So let me ask this, because what I see on
the Forward Party platform, and I've been to the website,
I have dug through all the issues.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
For me, everything begins and ends.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
I'm a single issue voter, and that is debt and spending,
because I think that is like the tip of the
spear in our country because without without managing that, nothing
else is going to matter. Right when we run out
of money and we can no longer no one's buying
our debt and we're just printing money like mad, then
people will begin to understand how significant the debt is.
But I don't see a lot or or a lot
(06:56):
of specifics about.
Speaker 2 (06:58):
Those angle issues like abortion.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
It's not in here at People on the on the
text line right now saying is the Forward Party pro
life or pro choice. UH. For me, it's about debt
and spending, because all things begin an end for that.
What other policy positions have you guys talked about or
when will those be developed?
Speaker 2 (07:18):
If at all?
Speaker 3 (07:20):
That's a that's a development situation.
Speaker 4 (07:22):
Maybe the the uh what we don't want to do,
which which really makes us unique as far enders as
I understand in the political environment, is we don't have
a top down, uh driven platform that says every candidate
must follow this these rules or you're going to run
and follow the party. Right, So somebody in Grand Junction
(07:44):
is going to be different than Boulder, It's going to
be different than Pueblock. And we we have a number,
you know, the many relationships at all levels of government
now that uh, and we talked with people you know,
you know pro gun, as you mentioned before, pro gun,
pro environmental, pro life, and there are so many common
(08:07):
you know, folks who aren't you know, who aren't driven
towards that single issue that realize that we as a
society have to deal with a lot of different things
and we need the best people to come forward and
work together with people that are different than them to
come up with a solution that works for their communities.
(08:27):
Here in Colorado, Colorado Forward Party, we're focused on the
state level, so we're not so much focused on what
goes on at the national level, even though it kind
of sucks the oxygen out of the room.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
Sometimes.
Speaker 4 (08:41):
We're focused on what's right for our communities, and we
want candidates who put a priority on serving their community.
That's got to be priority number one, and it's got
to be you know, candidates, whether whether they're from the
right side or the left side or in between, they
commit to us that they will work with their peers
(09:02):
to come up with solutions for their community.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
I actually like that.
Speaker 1 (09:05):
I tell people on this show all the time, and
I mean it that as much as we talk about
federal politics, as much as we talk about the Trump administration,
as much as we talk about Congress, the stuff that
happens here in Colorado has a much more direct and
immediate impact on.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
Our lives at a very visceral level.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
So I think that's a very smart move too many people,
And I look at the Libertarian Party in this case,
they run a presidential candidate every single presidential cycle, but
they're not running anybody in the school board elections, right
They're not running anything in the county Commission races.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
So I think it's a very smart play.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
And it sounds like and I'm not that was a
little bit of a hedge on your part, but it
almost sounded like we're gonna let candidates make their own
decisions about social issues.
Speaker 4 (09:50):
Is that part of the plan, that is that is
essential to us moving forward here? And because you know,
every community is different, every to every candidate is different.
We are going to be developing a platform over time,
but it's got to come from the ground up. And
as we build our base here in Colorado, as we
(10:10):
build it nationally, we're first going to start here in
Colorado and and come together on the issues that unite us.
And and we're also going to ask our candidates to
take a very you know, a very earnest and hard
working effort at resolving some of those those critical cultural
issues that divide us. Well, we don't we don't take
(10:33):
a hard position on some of those things that you
just mentioned.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
What what are the hard planks?
Speaker 1 (10:40):
What what are the things that you feel like are
the key cornerstones of the forward party that if you
had to tick the boxes and say here's what's really
important to us, that we do want you to focus
on what are those things?
Speaker 4 (10:52):
So if if I look at you know, I mentioned
the the the ability for every vote to count, right,
and do we call it ranked choice voting or uh,
you know, a different form of that where every voters
has an ability to choose, Hey, here's my first choice,
but here's my second choice. If the first person doesn't win.
(11:14):
That engages every voter, and it causes our our candidates
to appeal to a much broader spectrum than they normally would.
I mentioned open primaries absolutely, and for a minor party,
I mean rank choice voice voting is essential for a
minor party to be able to express itself and have voters,
(11:35):
you know, express their opinion. And we may not win
a race, but well, our talent will increase just because
that people will realize I can vote for forward first,
but boy, that Democrat or Republican is likely going to win,
so I'm going to vote them second, right, And and
so that's real. Open primaries I just see as essential
to removing the captivity that our political leaders have over
(12:03):
over politicians. Open primaries free up our elected officials to
be able to vote their conscience. And we've seen a
number of cases where candidates would prefer to vote something different,
but they're forced into positions to go along with the party.
We've got to find a way to break that cycle.
(12:25):
And uh, you know, just I get to like good governance.
Speaker 3 (12:28):
We've had.
Speaker 4 (12:30):
Down testifying in front of the Legislature on a couple
of different issues good governance around just basic things like
you know, our our constitution. We have a requirement that
every county have three commissioners for you know, a certain population,
and it's optional if you grow, you can still stay
with three if you want. That sets up some pretty
(12:54):
our dynamics when now you're county is you know, a
five hundred thousand people and you still have three commissioners.
But because of the way we elect those commissioners in
that county, political party controls the process.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
Douglas County, you're talking about Douglas County.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
Not the names, right, that's the names.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
I'm just saying, you're talking about Douglas County. And I'm
right there with you, Dave, I'm right there.
Speaker 3 (13:18):
There's a couple of them. There's a couple of so
you know, we we have we have.
Speaker 4 (13:24):
People elected officials that we support and I'll shout out
Bob Marshall as one. We have elected officials that we
support that are that drive those kind of that drive
those kind of discussions, you know, vacancy boating or vacancy sold.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
Many vacancy committees of garbage.
Speaker 5 (13:42):
Colorado is notorious nationwide the number of people that we
haven't elected office that gout there by vacancy and end
up going on and because they're now incumbents, they have
a much greater chance. We have thirty percent of the
legislators came through the venacancy appointment process.
Speaker 3 (13:59):
There was some I'm gonna let me go into this
if I could. I mean, we have legislation passed this year.
Speaker 4 (14:09):
That triggers if a person resigns within a certain time
frame after election, it forces a special election in an
odd year, which we don't haven't haven't done before here
in Colorado. And coincidentally one of the bills, two days
after it became effective, a commissioner in al Paso County
(14:32):
resigned and that triggered an appointment which was quite contested,
and it.
Speaker 3 (14:38):
Triggers a special election on November fourth. In that election.
Speaker 4 (14:44):
Limits who can participate as a candidate, and it limits
who can vote.
Speaker 3 (14:51):
That happens.
Speaker 4 (14:52):
Yeah, it happens to be a repof we can who
resigns or a normal appointment processes.
Speaker 3 (14:58):
You have to appoint a report.
Speaker 4 (15:01):
But now we're calling this a special election funded by taxpayers,
and if you're a Democrat, you can't run as a candidate.
We have a guy that wants would run, that would
run for office.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
Yeah, we've done there is replace the people of the
vacancy committee with other partisans that will only be allowed
to vote in an election that will only have people
from their party in it.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
That's what you're telling the Well.
Speaker 4 (15:29):
Another was some negotiations that allows unaffiliated voters to vote
in that election, but Democrats registered Democrats can't vote, No
minor party candidate.
Speaker 3 (15:40):
Can run, and the Democrat candidate can't run in us
what we call a special election.
Speaker 4 (15:45):
That should be it's a taxpayer funded election and it
constrains who can run or who can vote. I just
didn't that'd be the type of thing that we're be
We kind of scratch our head.
Speaker 1 (15:56):
So essentially, the Forward Party seems to be focused like
a laser on the strung true imbalances that have created
an unfair advantage for the two party system. I mean,
that's really what it gets down to, right, Yeah, exactly no.
Speaker 4 (16:07):
But the two major parties control everything, right, and we
have we have to find from a system perspective, the
ability to I mean moost two major parties are essential
to our democracy. There's no, I mean no debate on this, right,
but it is it is the control that they have
and the ability to shut down other voices that need
to be heard. Uh, that that is really problematic for us. Man.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
So I just got this text message and they said,
how about a balanced budget amendment? But let me ask
that as a follow let me ask a follow up question.
When will the bigger platform items be decided? Where is
the where are we in the process of the formation
of the Forward Party? If people want to get involved
now so they can be a part of these discussions,
when will those discussions move forward? Because like it or not,
(16:53):
I agree with everything you're saying about the structural issues,
but this is like very granular politics stuff, right, most
people are are we going to have a balanced budget amendment?
Do we have a pro life or a pro choice
playing do? What are what is our opinion on various issues?
Speaker 2 (17:10):
Like how is that all getting sorted out?
Speaker 4 (17:13):
You know? That's a great question because I mean, when
do we talk about, you know, the nuts and bolts
of changing things structurally so that things are less polarizing
people's eyes beully is over ye. I mean you've got
to really be a political junkie to get into these
nuts and bolts. But it's the foundation of making improvements
in our society. Uh So, but answer answer the question directly.
(17:38):
Anybody can get involved with us right now. Go to
calif Coloradofward party dot com. There's an easy way to
sign up. Somebody will contact you and indicate where your
interests are. We have, uh, you know, weekly meetings, we
have subcommittees that are chartered on specific tasks and and
(17:58):
we have different topics that we that we do that
we do talk about and admittedly it's focused on uh
it's focused on helping our our nonpartisan candidates at school
board and municipal levels be successful. It's focused like next year,
you'll see us at the at the county and legislative level,
(18:19):
supporting various candidates and promoting certain legislation around good governance,
the the the the overall score. I mean, we're a
brand new party. We're just getting our feet on the ground.
We we intend to stay bottoms up, but that it
is essential over time that we develop platforms that people
(18:39):
can that resonate with people. And whether it's a balanced
budget or or you know, or or water rights or
you know, environmental issues. You know, everybody wants our country
to be healthy, in our communities to be healthy, and
people to be have access to you know, the success
(19:00):
will path no matter whether in the rural areas or
in an urban center. And so it's it's it's uh,
you know, that's got it. It's got to come together.
We have conceptually a Project twenty twenty eight. We and
we we had we had Project twenty twenty eight before
the other projects started, namely, but Project twenty twenty eight
(19:24):
is about because we're we're we're we're accepted in a
dozen states right now here here we have we have
ballot access here in Colorado and the total of five
states and another another seven who are recognized by those states,
and and and quite a few more states coming on
board with us. And so it's all about building a
national recognition and national visibility. Uh. And it's that brand awareness,
(19:50):
right so people and people hear the word Forward Party,
they understand what it represents, so I would say, by
you know, towards twenty twenty eight, that's what we're driving
toward too.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
Well. I want to just say this.
Speaker 1 (20:01):
One of the things that's missing from the Forward Party
national website that is I think a core issue and
incredibly important is fair districting. And if you want to
have an issue that you can get out in front
of right now, the jerrymandering that's going on all over
the country, I don't care which party's doing, and it's bad,
it's bad, bad, bad bad. But I don't see a
specific point on the Forward Party website. But Dave, let
(20:23):
me do this. We'll check back in with you periodically.
We'll find out what's going on with the Forward Party.
I'm very interested and if I have listeners out there
who are very big and concerned about some of these issues,
go ahead and get involved. They're not going to make
you stay if you don't like it, right, I mean,
if you don't enjoy it.
Speaker 4 (20:40):
You can believe life gets it the way a lot
of times. So we we certainly acknowledge that we love
people who come forward. We love people who are interested
in our democracy and making sure their communities are moving forward.
Speaker 1 (20:54):
Dave Brian from the Colorado Forward Party, A pleasure to
talk to you. We'll check back in in a few
months and see what's happening.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
New stuff in the Forward Party as well.
Speaker 4 (21:03):
Cool.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
Thank you, Madie, all right, thanks Dave,
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