(From the Intellectual Ammunition section in Volume 18, No. 20 of the Liberator Online. Subscribe here!)

Government failure is piling on government failure. NSA wiretapping, Obamacare, a stagnant economy, endless and inexplicable wars…

In response, a whopping 60% of Americans now say the Republicrat and Demopublican parties do such a poor job of representing the American people that a third major party is needed.

That’s the finding of a poll conducted October 3-6, 2013 by the prestigious Gallup polling company.

Gallup has been asking voters this question for ten years. This 60% support for a third party is the highest ever.

Gallup found that only 26% believe the two major parties adequately represent Americans – also the lowest support Gallup has ever polled.

As for self-defined independents, fully 71% say we need a third party. (That number is actually lower than the all-time highs in 2007 and 2010.)

These findings parallel an October 12-13 Rasmussen poll, which finds 47% of Americans “believe neither major political party represents the American people.”

“However, the desire for a third party is not sufficient to ensure there will be one. Structural factors in the U.S. election system and the parties’ own abilities to adapt to changing public preferences have helped the Republican and Democratic parties to remain the dominant parties in U.S. government for more than 150 years.”

“Structural problems,” of course, include ballot laws passed by the Republicrats that keep potential third party competition off ballots and phony presidential “debates” run by representatives of the two parties that deliberately exclude new parties.

However, as support grows for new parties, and the media becomes more and more decentralized, look for those barriers to be increasingly challenged.

Posted on October 28, 2013

in Liberator Online Archives

by James Harris

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James Harris is the editor of the Liberator Online, the leading email newsletter of the liberty movement. His articles have appeared in numerous magazines and newspapers, and he has been a Finalist for the Mencken Awards, given by the Free Press Association for “Outstanding Journalism in Support of Liberty.”