A Reason to Not Support Either of the Two Major Parties Going Forward
Considering that neither has a locked on the voting majority (about 40% of registered voters identify as independent, and neither Republican and Democratic registered voters can't crack 25%), this shouldn't be a big issue. Sadly, the media, our political system and everyone you'll see or talk to during Thanksgiving believes that Democrats and Republicans are our only option. The vast majority of the American political world ignores that fact that many third parties exist, from "veteran" Green Party and Libertarian Party to the new [Movement for a] People's Party. The mainstream media downplays their significance, while relatively independent social media outlets argue that while both major parties are less than desired, voting third party is a waste of a vote.
In truth, the Republican Party started out as a regional party (focused on abolition, among other things) before gaining national recognition with Abraham Lincoln. They ousted the Whigs and were considered moderate/left-of-center until the Civil Rights Movement caused Southern Dixiecrats to join them.
Now while CNN claims that this animosity is barely 20 years old, I would argue that it's at least 30 years old. As far back as Ronald Reagan there were "Reagan Democrats," and then-Speaker Tip O'Neill worked with Reagan on a number of foreign policies despite disagreeing with him domestically. And even SNL admitted that George H.W. Bush as a proxy for Reaganomics was hard to beat.
That all changed with Bill Clinton's presidential win. There was something about a compartmentalizing centrist Governor from a poor Southern state that irked the Republicans; maybe it's because on paper Clinton should have been one of them (he certainly governed that way). But it was the impeachment trial that seemed to create the battle lines we see today: either you believed that the GOP were guardians of family values, or you believed that the Democrats were common-sense warriors in a world caught up in virtue signaling. This carried over to George W. Bush ("patriot" vs "liberty"), Barack Obama ("diversity" vs "identity politics") and Trump ("conservative populism" vs "liberal incrementalism"). And all the while, pundits on both sides argued that the best way to break the grip that one party had was to vote for the other.
Unfortunately, switching between these two major parties has neither born the fruit of change promised by Democrats nor created the "best of yesteryear" that Republicans claim to yearn for. Both are controlled by the wealthy, agreeing on most policies both fiscal and foreign while throwing social issues to their voters like red meat in hopes of continuing the cycle of, "Win Two Branches, Lose One Branch or Chamber of Congress, Lose It All/Switch Control of Branches/Chambers, and Repeat." Since 1993, how has America really improved for Democrats, Republicans or anyone who is not wealthy?
According to Ballotpedia, "there are currently 225 state-level ballot-qualified political party affiliates in the United States." The top three minor parties include the Libertarian Party (35 states), the Green Party (22 states) and the Constitution Party (15 states). It's time voters give these other parties another look. Neither Democrats nor Republicans will really change until they understand that people are no longer willing to vote for them.
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