There is no surer way of generating a migraine than engaging in political calculus. Spend a few minutes listening to any political reporting and you’ll understand.

There has been a covert movement afoot for some time, undermining the functionality of our two-party system. The result has been a seeming impenetrable barrier to returning the “old ways” of negotiation and compromise that in earlier times moved things ahead in this country.

In the last few decades, since the “Reagan Revolution,” which marked the beginning of deepening social division and the near destruction of what was once the strongest middle class in the world, we’ve seen a steady solidification of our political system.

That lowering of standards went below the bottom on January 6th as supporters of the former President stormed the Capitol, at his behest, and tried to take down the country.

A new element has been needed for sometime to break the deadlock of bicameral opposition. Politics has been a constant game of tic-tac-toe for far too long and this binary wall has to end sooner or later.

We may have just gotten a break. A new political party has been formed. It is called Forward. According to Reuters,

Dozens of former Republican and Democratic officials announced on Wednesday a new national political third party to appeal to millions of voters they say are dismayed with what they see as America’s dysfunctional two-party system.

The new party, called Forward and whose creation was first reported by Reuters, will initially be co-chaired by former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang and Christine Todd Whitman, the former Republican governor of New Jersey. They hope the party will become a viable alternative to the Republican and Democratic parties that dominate U.S. politics, founding members told Reuters.

The Forward Party’s operating philosophy, according to one of their sites, is

We are starting from a refreshingly simple premise: Every problem has a solution most Americans can support (really). We just have to cut out the extreme partisanship, reintroduce a competition of ideas, and work together in good faith.

Frankly, this is refreshing. Another statement from the party site:

We’re not building a copy of the current parties, which are dragging our country backwards. We’re moving American politics forward, with a party focused on innovative, collaborative, and common-sense solutions that work for the majority of Americans.

Don’t expect a 2024 Presidential candidate from this party. It has to get built first.

This year and next, we’ll be focused on building – that means expanding our infrastructure nationwide and getting communities involved. By the end of 2023, we’ll have ballot access and candidates in races around the country. By the end of 2024, we’ll have organizations in all 50 states and several thousand elected officials. Forward leaders will spend the 2020s and beyond working to repair America’s broken political system.

So we still have to do the work of bashing through the deadlock of corruption and protectionism that is creating the insanity of our current system. So vote for anything but a Republican in the coming primaries and in November. Don’t be surprised at anything insane coming from either party, Republicans in particular, as they adopt ideas that are the opposite of Democracy.

Each of us still has a job to do and that is voting. But with patience and persistence we’ll soon be able to move beyond the binary set of choices. Another factor entered into the equation may be just the thing to get things moving.