Origins and rationale
The Common Sense Party of California was discussed on The Bob Zadek Show in a 2021 episode with Tom Campbell, identified as a former Congressman, State Senator, and law and business school dean. Campbell described the party as a response to what he characterized as a political monopoly in California. Applying an economic lens, he said that monopoly is inefficient and results in less output and less opportunity, and that the same dynamic applies to government: “It’s a self-perpetuating monopoly. So, people who have good ideas have no place to express them.” Restoring Common Sense to California (2021)
Campbell stated that the dominant party in California holds 77.5% of the Assembly and 75% of the State Senate, and every state office. He described the Republican Party as having become largely irrelevant, whereas when he was a State Senator it had served as a check the majority party had to consider. He cited a Public Policy Institute of California poll of registered voters showing that 56% of Democrats, 53% of Republicans, and 75% of independents thought a third party was needed. He summarized the party’s appeal as being “a party for the rest of us.” Restoring Common Sense to California (2021)
Bob Zadek framed the party’s founding in historical terms, comparing it to the American Revolution and invoking Thomas Paine. He said the Common Sense Party “starts with ideals” and that its principles, rather than a single issue, would be broadly embraceable. He described the two major parties as lacking any semblance of political philosophy, saying neither has a philosophy “other than self-preservation, getting re-elected, and getting the power over other people.” Restoring Common Sense to California (2021)
The top-two primary strategy
Campbell explained that California’s top-two primary system was central to the party’s electoral strategy. Under the previous system, Democrats and Republicans each held their own primaries, and the most active party members—whom he placed to the left in the Democratic Party and to the right in the Republican Party—won nominations, producing a legislature composed of those extremes. He recalled that when he was a Congressman, the California delegation included figures from the far right and the far left, making it difficult for members to find common ground. Restoring Common Sense to California (2021)
Under the top-two system, Campbell said, if a Common Sense Party candidate makes it to the November runoff, there are only two people on the ballot for a state legislative district. A Common Sense Party candidate facing a Democrat could pick up support that Republicans, Libertarians, and other independents might have had, giving the candidate a real chance of winning. He identified a concrete goal: winning just seven Assembly districts out of 80 would bring the dominant party below a two-thirds supermajority. He noted that a two-thirds vote can raise taxes without the people’s approval and can put a constitutional amendment on the ballot without having to pay to gather signatures. Restoring Common Sense to California (2021)
Zadek observed that the strategy amounted to electing “seven Joe Manchins”—independent-minded officials with outsized influence. He also noted that the country locks in political monopoly through statutory protection, and that if businesses did the same, the Sherman and Clayton Antitrust Acts and the FTC would come down on them. He said the barrier to entry for a new political party is infinitely stronger than for a business. Restoring Common Sense to California (2021)
Thomas Paine and the phrase “common sense”
A separate 2021 episode featured Harlow Unger discussing Thomas Paine. Unger said Paine wrote two books, one at the end of his life and one during his most productive years, and that Paine became one of the most popular figures in the Western world among ordinary people—“everyman’s hero.” Unger contrasted Paine with John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Voltaire, who had aroused intellectuals and literate political leaders during the Age of Enlightenment. Paine, by contrast, grew up in the working class and wrote for everyman, literate or not, poor or rich, noble or ignoble. Thomas Paine: Apostle of Liberty (2021)
Unger said Paine asked why someone should rule over us simply because he is someone else’s child, and that Paine called the notion of divine right of kings absurd. Paine traced the idea to William the Conqueror, whom Unger described as a thug from France who sailed to England and browbeat laborers along the shore, then made a deal with the Anglican Church to create the idea that God appointed William king and his offspring were entitled to rule. Paine, Unger said, went the opposite direction and defied common sense—and Common Sense became the title of his first widely read pamphlet, which firmed up in the minds of Americans why they should seek independence from Britain. Thomas Paine: Apostle of Liberty (2021)
Unger added that Paine also asked why people on a little tiny island across an ocean should govern a huge continent, and that this too seemed absurd to him. He said Paine put that in the minds of Americans and pulled them together at the beginning of the War of Independence. Thomas Paine: Apostle of Liberty (2021)
Alliance with the Forward Party
In a 2023 episode, Campbell told Zadek that the Common Sense Party had formed an alliance with the Forward Party, chaired by Andrew Yang and former Governor Christie Todd Whitman. He noted that Yang is a former Democrat and Whitman a former Republican. The purpose of the joint venture, Campbell said, was to get the Common Sense Party recognized in California, because the two groups’ principles, particularly access to the political process, were close to identical. Moving California Forward with the Common Sense Party (2023)
Campbell explained that the Forward Party in California decided not to recreate the work the Common Sense Party had already started. Instead, Forward Party members would be asked to register with the Common Sense Party in California, which would get the party over the line, after which a Forward Party candidate could choose to run in California. If the majority of Common Sense Party members chose, the party’s name could even be changed. Campbell said the coalition had been wonderful, with Forward bringing energetic volunteers and the Common Sense Party bringing experience. He emphasized that the Common Sense Party is in California while Forward is nationwide. Moving California Forward with the Common Sense Party (2023)
Zadek said he was a registered Common Sense Party voter and had given up the ability to vote in primaries in support of the party. He praised the quality of figures drawn to the effort, citing Whitman and Yang as endorsements of the party’s direction. Moving California Forward with the Common Sense Party (2023)
Across episodes
The topic appears in three episodes: the 2021 episode with Tom Campbell on the party’s formation and top-two primary strategy, the 2021 episode with Harlow Unger on Thomas Paine, and the 2023 episode with Campbell on the Forward Party alliance. Between the first and third episodes, the treatment shifted from the party’s standalone formation and electoral math to its coalition with the Forward Party and the practical question of ballot recognition; Campbell advanced both accounts, while Unger’s episode supplies the historical provenance of the phrase “common sense” rather than addressing the party itself.
What the sources do not cover
The excerpts do not state the date the Common Sense Party was founded, the full text of its five principles (Campbell’s explanation breaks off as he begins to list them), or the outcome of any specific election. They do not describe the Forward Party’s structure outside California or the terms of the alliance beyond the registration strategy. The Paine episode ends mid-sentence in the second excerpt, so Unger’s further remarks on Paine and the Revolution are not available.