I totally understand the frustration with the two party system in the United States; it’s stupid, slow, and cumbersome to work with. As a result, I understand it’s tempting to just vote for a third party because of how poorly the two parties represent their constituents.

If the United States system of government were a parliamentary democracy or even just assigned representatives more proportionally, I think voting for a third party might be a feasible option to enact real change. The Liberal Democrats in the UK are an example of a third party successfully challenging Labour and the Tories.

But unfortunately, the United States has a totally different system; we have a Presidential executive branch with a bicameral legislature that runs on a first-past-the-post, winner-takes-all system (with very few exceptions). All it takes is 50.01% of the vote for one party to take 100% of their district or state or have 100% their way. This is further compounded by the issue of the Senate and the Electoral College giving low-population, rural states outsized influence over high-population states. Under this system, a vote for a third party candidate is basically a vote that empowers the more evil candidate and will result in a negative outcome.

Basically, what I am getting at is the US System is stupid. It needs reform. We should be able to vote for a third party candidate and expect a positive outcome. But right now, there is only one party that actually has reform on their platform and could feasibly do it, and that’s the democrats. They’ve tested ranked-choice voting, invested in our crumbling infrastructure, passed legislation to address climate change, pushed for single-payer healthcare for years, advocated for police reform, and even campaign finance reform & repeal the Citizens United Supreme Court ruling. Now, they’re also advocating to reform the Supreme Court and make it so the POTUS is not above the law. But the only way this can happen is if the Democrats get 50.01% of the vote in enough districts to make Republican obstructionism a non-viable tactic.

The Republicans are the ones that must be stopped in November and only the Democrats have the power and resources to feasibly accomplish this within the constraints of our current system.

Edit: grammar, clarity