The Two-Party Face Plant
Americans increasingly say neither Democrats nor Republicans represent their views on major public policy issues.
Media commentators are so accustomed to talking about Democrats and Republicans that they often miss the bigger picture in American politics—the collapse of trust in the two traditional parties, increasing independence among voters, and rising allegiance to an undefined “neither” party. The Liberal Patriot has covered this trend multiple times over the past few years, and each time we get dismissed by partisans on either side as lacking sufficient team fervor.
But the data is the data. And, once again, brand new polling from CNN/SSRS shows just how poorly the two parties are performing in the minds of many Americans. As the table below highlights, when asked which party comes closer to their own view on a variety of issues, “neither party” is chosen by 24 to 36 percent of adults—basically on par with Democrats and Republicans on nearly every issue.
“Neither party” outranks Democrats and Republicans on “the federal budget” (36 percent), while Republicans are strongest on “crime and policing'“ (40 percent) and Democrats on “education” (41 percent). But the most notable finding here is how well the neither party choice does across the board.
The positions of the two parties look even worse when you ask Americans about the representational nature and competency of Democrats and Republicans. As the table below reveals, “neither party” beats out both traditional parties on getting things done, having strong leaders, and being the party of change. Sadly, a third of Americans also believe that neither Democrats nor Republicans constitute the party of the middle class.
Clearly, lots of Americans do not like the positions and brands of the only two parties they are allowed to choose from in most elections. This does not mean that “neither party” represents a coherent or unified entity in the minds of these voters. Quite the opposite. There are many kinds of independents, from moderates to left- and right-wing populists to the disaffected and disengaged. Although their diverging views do not fit fully into the partisan programs of either Democrats or Republicans, they also do not fit fully into any one alternative third party at the moment.
Unfortunately, there’s not much independent voters can do about the situation given two-party control of the election process itself. So, the most likely course of action for this roughly one quarter to one third of disgruntled Americans will be (1) to continue registering their disdain for the priorities of the two parties; (2) not voting for party lines or backing all of a party’s agenda; (3) supporting a range of third-party challengers when the choice is available; or (4) not participating in politics at all.
Given the mounting number of economic and social concerns among Americans, a failed two-party system cannot endure indefinitely. Wild swings in control between the two parties have become the norm in recent elections. But if we want to break out of a “politics without winners” scenario, either one or both traditional parties must become bigger tents that bring in more voters with more diverse views held together by a common but limited agenda that delivers for people, or the parties will start to dwindle in membership numbers and retreat into ideological purity among a steadily decreasing cadre of diehards as other Americans search for alternatives.
It is sort of like the New York Jets and New England Patriots rivalry.
Both teams suck, their fans know their teams suck, but their fans would rather crawl through broken glass than wear the other team's jersey.
I remember one of these liberal patriot articles of late described us as having six parties. Both R and D have a donor party with the seven figure donations (or eight figure). Then there are the activists, staffers, interns, hobbyists, single issue advocates, journos, NGO employees, etc., the ideology backbone of both parties. Lastly there are the voters of both parties and of no party.
Us voters are huge in numbers, but everything must pass through the sieve of the professional activist politician class, and then lastly the idea has to get the ok of the donors who have all the money for campaigns.
Those top two portions of both parties are too rigid, and have a lot more personal wealth than the vast voting class. We can't even pass a budget that is balanced and won't deny people health care. Republicans are fighting their own President over tariffs. Eighty percent of us agree on most things, but we are stuck with recalcitrant operatives at the top of our parties constrained by the whims of well heeled donors.