Going Forward. Steve Williamson, Karen McClelland andStephen Hanks welcome Myles Taylor, former Chief of Staff of the Department ofHomeland Security. In May of 2022, he left the Republican Party over itsespousal of the Great Replacement Theory, the far-right white nationalist beliefthat there is a plot by so-called elites to replace white people with people ofcolor through mass migration and demographic growth.

Since then, Taylor has helped create the Forward Party with the intent of bringing independents, moderate conservatives, and moderate Democrats together. “It’s an experiment,” says Taylor. “Fifty percent of Americans now say they are political independents – the largest that number has ever been since modern polling started. And two-thirds of Americans for the first time ever say they want more choices in the political system.”

Explaining that he believes the GOP is the biggest threat to democracy right now, Taylor says what he hopes to do with Forward is to bring independents and the pro-democracy side together to defeat extremists. “Our whole existence is about trying to make the democratic process more competitive again because when there’s more competition, the extremes tend to do pretty poorly. And sensible, common-sense candidates win.”

“What’s different about what we’re doing with Forward. We’renot just going to support Forward candidates,” he says. “We’re going to supportcommon-sense Democrats. And, hopefully, that handful of common-senseRepublicans becomes more than a handful.”