57 comments

    1. Ranked Choice Voting doesn’t help third parties. Learn more about it. It protects the two party system _from_ third parties.

    2. @Laughter On Water “If your first choice doesn’t win, it’s likely your second choice will.” That’s a myth. Under RCV, voting honestly for a third party can take enough votes away from your second choice that they are eliminated first, and then your least favorite wins. It’s better to vote tactically for the lesser of two evils, just like our current system. Most people who promote RCV online don’t actually understand how it works, or know how it works and promote it anyway because they know it will perpetuate the status quo.

      “Now is a good time to learn more about voting methods.” Yes, it is, please do. There are many good voting systems. RCV is not one of them.

      It’s especially idiotic for the Forward Party to promote RCV, since it’s heavily biased against centrist candidates, and Forward is a centrist party. They’re shooting themselves in the foot.

  1. As others mentioned in the comments, there is zero point in pushing third parties until we have ranked choice voting.

    1. @The Humanity The point of politics is the policy? Well okay, that’s fine enough, but doesn’t really contradict what I said. I said each candidate has policy positions not the Forward party as the whole. The forward party isn’t anti-policy. They are just willing to form broad coalitions in order to focus on their goals.

      The party forming policies based on the majority of Americans consensus wouldn’t work though because you are talking about a national level consensus whereas the votes count at district levels and state levels moreso. I think having policies based on the consensus at a local level makes a lot more sense because that’s the level voting wins at.

      Corporate money? Reportedly so far they haven’t had any such large donors. I’m against Citizens United too but I’m at a loss for how to change it. Even Bernie Sanders accepted 963K from Alphabet Inc, 781K from Amazon, 480K from Apple, 430K from Microsoft, 240K from Facebook, etcetera. I guess some politicians are trying to work within the system to change the system. Unfortunately the current system needs lots of money to make a difference and individual contributions make one uncompetitive. I’m with you in spirit about accepting corporate money and the dangers of it, but in reality it seems unrealistic for politicians to not accept corporate money in the current system.

    2. @TheDesertPooch It is extremely unlikely a third party would win enough electoral votes, but even if they were to achieve the most electoral votes without the mandatory 270, the vote to nominate a candidate would go to the House of Representatives who could nominate the third place winner. We do not yet have a system in place for a third party to be anything but a spoiler. Ross Perot and Ralph Nader are perfect examples.

    3. @TheDesertPooch It is certainly long overdue. Throw in age limits and term limits for everyone, including the Supreme Court!

    4. Ranked Choice Voting doesn’t make third parties viable, either. At least not with the Hare elimination method that’s always proposed in the US. So many people are ignorant of this and think “RCV is the solution to all our problems!” without understanding how it actually works and what it actually does. Yang is especially idiotic because he’s trying to start a centrist party while advocating for RCV which is biased _against_ centrists.

  2. As a Canadian senior who can’t ever remember having 2 parties here in Canada, I can’t even wrap my head around the polarizing idea of a mere 2 party system. Not to say that that our 2 primary parties of Liberals and Conservatives have the majority of seats, but with multiple parties it keeps everyone on their toes. We just don’t get the logjam that you Americans get.

    1. @Marc St-Pierre Marc, you aren’t supposed to judge a system by ONE moment in history. That’s called being short-sighted as fk bro….you have an american mentality….short-term.

  3. Many other countries have several parties that creates an environment where peole must work together which in turn makes it less likley for the extreme polarisation that we see in the US where only two parties creates a blueprint for “we vs them” and a system where one is always trying to block the other one so it’s hard to get anything done at all.

    1. And isn’t that what politics should be? Everyone working collaboratively to find an answer that works for all?

    2. @Black Alien Thanks for putting it so plainly. I do think there’s far too much divisiveness on these supposed “news” channels. They are the fuel on these fires.

  4. I used to support Yang until I saw how full of himself he behaved during the last campaign. This new party formation is another form of his “I’m so above everybody else! I’m so cool! Look at me! I’m still relevant!””.

  5. I live in Canada and we have 3 mainstream parties and at least 2 more gaining in popularity. It’s really great to have more choice, and better debate on important issues. America need at least 1 more strong opponent to the dems and the republicans.

  6. Many of you seem to forget that Democracy allows for other parties. If you enjoy Democracy, you should also be a fan of other parties because it provides Americans with more choices.
    On the other hand, I guess there are some Americans who love choosing between Bad and Worse.

    1. @Ray Stanczak Every American has the right to Not vote. It does help to choose between someone who delays progress, and someone who denies progress.
      Which is why we as Americans must invest more of our interest in third parties. Too many of us have bought into the idea of “third parties are spoiler parties.” That’s ridiculous as it relates to Democracy.
      Millions of Americans don’t vote because the two major parties continue to offer candidates not worth voting for. Third parties are a Must.

    2. Nobody’s stopping him, but he’s going to have to actually answer a question or two to be taken seriously

    3. @Mole Osteen They have a parliamentary system—very different from ours. And like ours, it’s been developed over centuries, with countless modifications. It’s apples and oranges.
      No, it’s not a scam—it’s a large government with all the flaws that go with any large institution. And as I’ve been reminding people for many decades—WE are the government. It’s run by participatory democracy. So if we don’t participate, the result is no democracy. If we participate only minimally, we have a weak democracy and government. People need to keep up on the issues that concern our country, to the extent that they can, and then we all need to cast a more informed vote. Give a few bucks to a candidate ANYWHERE that doesn’t take dark money—they’re the progressive Democratic candidates, and they’re about the only ones. Support them.
      BTW—the wealthy and he corporations have hated the government specifically because it’s the only entity with the power to stand against them. It was the wealthy slave owners back in the day who pushed “state’s rights”, because no state could end the grotesque practice of slavery. It required the power of the federal government to do that. And the citizens had to participate in the worst way possible—a half-million died.
      Just pointing out that since the corporations and the rich want to “destroy the administrative state” for their own benefit, we probably shouldn’t be helping them. (Makes you wonder about Bannon’s motives, eh? Wonder no more—it’s cash.)

  7. Omg I will never understand how or why anyone would listen to James Carville. Jim Acosta was very rude in this interview and I would’ve appreciated hearing Andrew Yang talk.

    1. @Logan He knows how these interviews go. For every issue, he has to be ready to provide quick&clear statement of his party’s positions. Yet, his response to policies was repeatedly “common-sense consensus majority view”. Which is both an empty phrase, and a cope out. The web page is the same. There is no other way to perceive his actions, as a grief to get more money and publicity for personal gain.

    1. People tend to do that when others are non-responsive or clear in their intention. They press. And weak people fold.

    2. how long do you let yang sputter nothing and then slip slide around the actual question… yang pretends to be honest, when he’s the furthest thing from it.

  8. “You were just a Democrat 10 minutes ago.”
    What kind of interview is this? It’s difficult to even get through the first 5 minutes. Is this guy supposed to be a journalist or a pundit?

    1. @Glow Connection he doesn’t have an answer to basic party positions… just full of condescending focus group language.

  9. Both existing parties have a 16% approval rating, we need another option….duh
    Why won’t Jim let Andrew finish an answer? Why is Jim so angry?I am more interested in joining the forward party based on Jim’s anger

    1. @steve ocacio If I were interviewing you, I would’ve let you finish what you were saying even though I totally disagree bruh. Interviewing people is not about talking over one-another, its about giving them a chance to talk and explain themselves. If you want to argue the entire time thats all it is, an argument.

  10. A third party seems to be exactly what this country needs. Jim Acosta wouldn’t let the man finish a sentence with the Fox News tactic. CNN must love the duopoly as much as Fox News does.

  11. I get Jim you don’t approve of Andrew Yang’s party but please COULD YOU LET HIM FINISH THE ANSWERS YOU ASKED HIM!!!! You are more aggressive with him than any other politician that you interview I dare anyone to find a clip of Jim’s interview that’s more aggressive to anyone than this interview

  12. Wow what a hostile interview. Congrats to Yang for keeping your composure. You were keeping it about the facts and the things people care about , not giving into this clown’s game. I’m sure Acosta wanted to hurt Yang, but it backfired.

    1. @paladro I prefer true discussions , where the questions aren’t framed to attack the interviewee. There are true positions and ideas here , but the interviewer decided to attack Yang instead of giving him a fair shot. Open primaries and ranked choice voting are reforms at the heart of our system , which make them huge issues. Acosta won’t let him explain that . I agree to disagree with you .

    2. @Thomas Riggins this is a two party system country. You know what it means if a third party is needed? The people belonging to the two party will never let a third party be relevant. It’s there livelihood that’s on the line.

    3. He didn’t have a single policy his party supports. He gave the common sense non answer. He was asked direct questions and gave no actual answers. Why let him carry on without an actual position to take on a single policy? This party will fail unless they get better P.R.

  13. Wow I don’t necessarily agree with the FWD party but agree with the idea of it, and Jim Acosta is becoming a horrible journalist by letting his bias show so clearly in his questioning of it. Why not at least try to appear like you’re actually asking questions to get the answers, instead of interrupting your guest in the middle of answering your question. It’s infuriating to see journalists act like this. This type of journalism is what is keeping Trump and his message popular and getting him elected. The way the media is acting is feeding directly into Trump’s narrative about them. I wish they would course-correct and show Trump that he is wrong, I can’t continue defending the media to my Trump-y friends when they act like Acosta is in this interview.

  14. Jim….shame on you! I get it…you don’t see his initiative as helpful. Third parties haven’t had good success, and you are right…they often helped GOP during elections. But have a dialogue going…you just attacked the guy for no reason. If his party doesn’t take a stance in top issues. Then summarize him with that…but this was just an attack, not an interview

  15. Reading these comments I am puzzled. How can anyone have listened to Jim Acosta vs Trump, and still think he might be an objective journalist, or a well-mannered person?

  16. Jim Acosta is amazing at concealing his contempt. I would never have guessed he was against Yang here…

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