I agree. The Democrats need to hive-off a third party. Call it the Democratic Socialists of America. Via Gallup:
Nearly twice as many Americans today think a third major party is needed in the U.S. as say the existing parties do an adequate job of representing the American people. The 61% who contend that a third party is needed is technically the highest Gallup has recorded, although similar to the 57% to 60% holding this view since 2013. Barely a third, 34%, think the Republican and Democratic parties suffice.
Americans’ desire for a competitive third party has waxed and waned over the past 15 years, but rose to 57% or higher a few times in polls conducted before 2013, including two in 2007 and one in 2010.
Demand for a third party was markedly lower in Gallup’s first two measurements — in 2003 and 2006 — when relatively few Republicans and fewer than two in three independents thought a third party was needed in these years of George W. Bush’s Republican administration.
Support for a third party was also lower in 2008 and 2012 — both presidential years when demand dipped from about 70% to about 60% among independents, likely because the major-party presidential candidates running during those elections were relatively popular. The same pattern did not materialize in 2016, a presidential election year featuring the two most unpopular candidates in Gallup’s polling history. At that time, a solid majority of Americans, including 73% of independents, still thought a third major party was needed.
