OPINION: Forward Party, open primaries, will better serve voters

The two party system, dominated by the extremes of American political thought, promotes an agenda of extremism that does not serve New Mexicans or America as a whole.

Larry Behrens in the Sunday Journal, June 8, castigated former Interior Secretary Deb Haaland for not bringing former President Joe Biden’s compromised state to light, but then calls out her “radical” climate agenda. His summary embodies the problem with our current two-party system and hyper-polarized politics. Yes, Haaland should have called Biden out. All Cabinet officials clearly had access to Biden and should have known and informed the American people.

But you don’t have to feel that her climate agenda was “radical” in order to feel betrayed by her lack of candor. His legitimate critique of Haaland’s complicity has nothing to do with her climate policy.

The same day, on the same page in the Journal, Jeffrey Paul tried to make a case that independents should not be voting in primaries for major parties. His analogy that it’s like taking his child to a birthday party they weren’t invited to misses a critical point: The birthday party is a private affair. The primary election is a public affair paid for by tax dollars. If the state of New Mexico pays for the birthday party, then the whole class should be invited. A primary is a public function which all voters should have access to.

When primaries become open, and ideally nonpartisan — like they are in several states such as Alaska and Nebraska — officials like Haaland become accountable to all voters, not just the party base and the party elite. Open primaries reset expected political behavior to benefit all people and all voters, not just the party base, the monied interests, the lobbyists and consultants who power the inner workings of both major parties.

Haaland’s silence on Biden’s decline is representative of a larger problem with our politics: Leaders are more focused on re-election and fighting their political opponents than on solving problems by bringing people together, or passing best-practice legislation.

I believe you can draw a straight line between partisan primaries and Haaland’s failure to inform the public about the weakness in her party’s leadership. It is time for a new approach, a new party focused on the rule of law, ethical governance, compromise and getting things done for New Mexico and America. It is time for the Forward Party. We believe we will be recognized as an official political party in New Mexico by the end of this year and will run candidates up and down the ballot in 2026.