Former Democratic Rep. Tim Ryan will focus on ‘exhausted majority’ in new initiative
Julia Johnson
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Former Democratic Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan is launching a new organization focused on policy and democracy and addressing the country’s “exhausted majority” later this week.
In a new interview with CBS News, Ryan revealed that his plans for the following year include traveling across the country and hosting policy-based events aimed at fostering a dialogue among voters that promotes democracy.
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We the People will serve as a resource for voters who feel politically homeless, Ryan told CBS News. According to him, many Americans feel frustrated by the actions of politicians in Washington, D.C., as well as the Right-wing populist movement behind former President Donald Trump, and this organization is creating a movement for them.
Ryan, who ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020 and then for Senate in Ohio in 2022, losing both, added that these people are “checking out” of politics altogether. “That’s maddening because that gives a bigger voice to those forces of division and hate and anger, so we want to build an organization that welcomes these people to participate,” he explained.
The centrist Democrat said the organization’s approach will be “very, very practical and very pragmatic” because “we just want to elevate the conversation and welcome people in.”
While he is looking to assemble a large coalition of Americans, he won’t be tip-toeing around taking stances on issues. Ryan said the group will “take a strong and hostile position against these forces of hate and anger and fear and division in the country.”
“That’s the only way for us, in my estimation, for us to allow all of this greatness happening in the country to be able to bloom and to grow,” he said.
He explained that he is still very much a Democrat, but said that the political system is broken, nonetheless. “It’s broken across the board, and the fact that we have a MAGA movement in the country illustrates, pretty clearly, that here is a corrosion to our political system, and solely having political fights won’t heal that,” he claimed.
The group isn’t interested in getting involved in presidential politics, according to Ryan. Instead, it will opt “to actually build a sustainable organization that’s citizen-powered.” The organization is a 501(c)4 nonprofit and will not make endorsements.
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Some of the issues that We the People will devote time and resources to are American manufacturing, energy production, and veterans’ care, he said.
While this endeavor will consume Ryan’s time for now, the 50-year-old didn’t rule out a potential return to public office in the future.