Andrew Yang is a likable guy, but his reported interest in forming a third party isn’t likely to amount to much of anything in our political environment.
Politico reported Yang is poised to launch a third party around the same time as the release of his new book in October. Yang, who most recently fell short of becoming the Democratic nominee for mayor in New York City, jumped into the national conversation with his support for a universal basic income.
Unfortunately for Yang, his possible third party isn’t likely to affect our national politics any more than he has. Yang is better known among the relatively small “extremely online” population of the United States. His run to become the Democratic nominee for president never got off the ground, as he dropped out after poor showings in Iowa and New Hampshire.
Yang’s run for mayor started strong, but he faded dramatically down the stretch, effectively finishing fourth in a Democratic primary eventually won by Eric Adams. Yang may have the independent streak needed to buck the two-party system, but he simply doesn’t have the clout to create a third party that could be competitive except in an extremely limited capacity.
Given that the Libertarian Party and the Green Party have failed to have any impact on national or state politics, it is not clear how Yang’s big-government liberalism would carve out a major role in our politics. If this reported party comes to fruition, you can certainly expect pundits to talk about it more than voters will.
