Is the two-party system doomed? Some progressive commentators think so.
Labor activist Les Leopold argues in his recent book, The Billionaires Have Two Parties, We Need a Party of Our Own, that “Working people have been abandoning the Democratic Party as the party has been abandoning them.” He calls for “a new party of the working class” to field working-class candidates. Lee Drutman of New America makes similar arguments about a fatally damaged Democratic brand in his 2020 book, Breaking the Two-Party Doom Loop, and in recent writings, calls for a multiparty system.
But it’s not accidental that the last durable new party, the Republican Party, was founded 172 years ago, in 1854. The American constitutional system, with its lack of proportional representation for minor parties, makes it almost impossible for new parties to gain a lasting foothold. And that may not be such a bad thing. In Europe, parliamentary fragmentation has been producing weak, ineffective government and rising popular discontent captured more by the right than by the left.
For me, the rise and growth of the Working Families Party produces the best of both worlds: a two-and-a-half-party system that pushes the Democrats toward pocketbook populism and helps to make that a majoritarian politics.
In its origins, WFP assumed that it was confined to so-called fusion voting states, where it could both endorse a Democrat (or not) and also have its own ballot line. This led to increasing WFP influence in New York. In some respects, the success of Zohran Mamdani is testament to the success of that model.
But there are now only two fusion voting states, New York and Connecticut. Faced with this reality, the WFP has found ways to have real influence in non-fusion states. The key is not just endorsements but volunteers. The WFP brand of practical progressivism can attract activists who serve as the ground troops in campaigns. The WFP has now created party organizations in 18 states and plans more.
This week, the WFP increased its national reach and potential appeal by unveiling a national platform, called the Working Families Guarantee. It includes universal health care, “a home you can afford,” paid family leave, and a national jobs program with union jobs, all paid for by taxing the rich.
In some cases, the Guarantee offers precise policy proposals, such as 12-week paid family leave and national health insurance. In other cases, the idea is more a declaration of principles, such as the right to a well-paying job and affordable housing. But in all cases, the centerpiece is the idea that working families need all the economic elements of a decent life.
At a press conference on Tuesday, several candidates for House and Senate embraced the Guarantee and in turn were endorsed by WFP. Some, such as Senate candidate Julie Gonzales in Colorado, are challenging a centrist Democratic incumbent, in this case John Hickenlooper. Others, like House candidate Randy Villegas in California’s Central Valley, are hoping to win a primary; Villegas needs to defeat conservative Democrat Jasmeet Bains to earn the right to challenge a Republican incumbent, David Valadao.
In other instances, candidates in states that still lack much of a WFP presence have announced their support for the WFP Guarantee. They include Graham Platner in Maine.
Can this model work? In New Jersey, a Working Families Party activist, Analilia Mejia, won the Democratic primary for the House seat, NJ-11, vacated by now-Gov. Mikie Sherrill. The mostly suburban district is not especially progressive territory. It was actually a Republican stronghold until Sherrill flipped it in 2018.
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The success this year reflected Mejia’s own dynamism and embrace of populist pocketbook issues, which in turn attracted a small army of campaign volunteers. Mejia went on to win the special election against the Republican last Thursday by a margin of 60-40. “Stand up, defend, restore, not only our democracy, but also a just economy that actually works for working people,” she declared in a speech after being sworn in.
Other successes suggest that Mejia’s victory was not a one-off. In Wisconsin, WFP activists helped Judge Chris Taylor win with 60 percent of the vote in the April 7 election, creating a 5-2 progressive majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Down-ballot, WFP helped win several local races, using direct voter contact, including phone calls, mailers, door-knocking, and paid social media and postcards. In Seattle last November, WFP contributed to a progressive sweep that included Mayor Katie Wilson, several city council seats, King County Executive Girmay Zahilay, and City Attorney Erika Evans.
Note the difference between the WFP model and the efforts by groups on the Democratic Party’s corporate right to win primaries. On the right, the attempt to capture power is dominated by special-interest money, especially from PACs representing crypto, AI, and unwavering support for Israel, no matter how odious the Netanyahu government’s policies. The effort involves few actual volunteers. This model also depends on disguising who is actually behind the candidate by deliberately muddling messages.
By contrast, the WFP effort is built on straightforward principles, clear messages, and lots of real people working in campaigns. The success of WFP is a win not just for a progressive Democratic Party but for a revival of authentic democracy.
There will always be the occasional one-off progressive candidate, such as union leader and industrial mechanic Dan Osborn in Nebraska, who finds it tactically shrewd to run for the Senate as an independent, and God bless him. But for every independent like Osborn, there are dozens like Platner running as WFP-backed Democrats. Since we need an effective and principled party, both state by state and in Congress, and to elect presidents, how much better to have progressives breathe some life into the Democratic Party via the WFP.
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