The Forward Party announced this week that it is developing a training program to support future candidates in building a campaign presence, accessing independent donors and volunteers, and properly adhering to legal and financial requirements.
In an email sent on Wednesday, the party stated that it is organizing the program to help individuals interested in running outside of the Republican and Democratic parties more easily navigate the complexities of running a campaign. The Forward Party added that candidates associated with one of the two predominant parties typically have access to state and county-level leadership to address various components of campaigning, whereas independents are largely left to organize from what few resources are available. Among those areas, it includes determining which office to seek and how to file, setting up a web presence, using donor platforms such as ActBlue and WinRed to solicit donations, organizing and utilizing campaign volunteers, and accessing debate opportunities.
“All of these hurdles make it so most people don’t even bother throwing their hat in the ring,” the party stated. “Those that do file to run quickly feel overwhelmed, often effectively dropping out of the race. And those that fight through election day rarely end up winning. Even if they do, the infrastructure they built and the data they accumulated doesn’t go anywhere to help the next round of independent candidates.”
While the party doesn’t explore specific details of the training program, its plans include creating new systems and developing an independent donor and voter base that will serve as a resource for candidates. This database will be further designed to collect independent volunteer information and be usable across election cycles, resembling resources actively used by other established parties.
Additionally, the program is intended to help develop a viable market for campaign professionals looking to work with independent candidates. The party pointed out that such professionals are often “blacklisted by the legacy parties,” resulting in a shortage of experienced campaign staff available to independent candidates.
According to the announcement, the new infrastructure will be accessible to candidates who commit to Forward Party values, prioritize listening to constituents, and act with “ethics and compassion,” adding that it isn’t “freezing people out based on increasingly narrow policy platforms or litmus tests.”
The future will not be changed with programs but with Vision.