Researchers for the poll, conducted among 997 registered voters via both home and mobile phones this month, reported that \u201c58% of respondents are dissatisfied with the current group of Republican and Democratic candidates for President\u201d<\/em> \u2014 and that 55 percent believe there should be an independent ticket<\/strong> (it is unclear why 3 percent apparently dislike the current candidates but puzzlingly do not<\/em> think there should be another option). In perhaps the most extreme finding of the analysis, \u201ca shocking 91% of voters under the age of 29 favor having an independent candidate on the ballot.\u201d<\/em> Considering younger generations\u2019 lack of party allegiance<\/a> and disillusionment with the status quo<\/a>, their disapproval of Clinton and Trump seems predictable \u2014 but 91 percent constitutes near-total rejection<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Tellingly, over 68 percent of participants in the poll were over the age of 50. Older generations are more likely<\/a> to be attached to party identity, making their acceptance of other options a telling indicator of the populace\u2019s distaste for their current options.<\/p>\n The United States has notoriously clung to the narrow two-party duopoly for most of its history \u2014 even as the crafters of the Constitution, for all their staggering shortcomings<\/a>, cautioned<\/a> of the dangers<\/a> of such myopic political representation and party allegiance.<\/p>\n But considering the unpopularity of Trump and Clinton \u2014 the former has a 55 percent unfavorability liking, the latter 56 percent \u2014 Americans appear to be turning a corner on their perception of who deserves power in politics.<\/strong><\/p>\n In fact, 65 percent of poll respondents said they would be \u201cat least somewhat, pretty or very willing to support a candidate for President who is not Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton\u201d<\/em> \u2014 a stark difference from 2012, when Americans resisted deviation from the norm. A Gallup poll<\/a> from that year highlighted the nation\u2019s two-party rigidity. \u201cU.S. registered voters show limited support for third-party candidates\u2026with the vast majority preferring Barack Obama or Mitt Romney,\u201d<\/em> analysts reported just a few months before the 2012 general election. They concluded about 5% of Americans would vote for a third-party candidate that year.<\/p>\n Just four years later, however, that figure has exploded. As the Data Testing report explains:<\/p>\n \u201cIn a ballot test against Clinton and Trump, a truly independent candidate starts off with 21% of the vote,\u201d<\/em> already far greater than 2012\u2019s 5%. \u201cBut this number increases to 29% in the \u2018Big Sky\u2019 region, 30% in \u2018New England\u2019 and 28% in the \u2018West\u2019 region.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Independents were even more willing to break away from the options they\u2019ve been given. <\/strong>\u201cAmong voters with an unfavorable opinion of both Trump and Clinton, the independent actually wins the ballot test,\u201d<\/em> researchers reported, noting that of the three options, 7 percent of respondents chose Clinton, 11 percent chose Trump, and a staggering 56 percent chose the unspecified third-party candidate. Though these ballot test findings are lower than the statistic that 65 percent would be open to breaking away from Clinton and Trump, the increase of third-party interest from 2012 remains palpably significant.<\/p>\n It should be noted that Data Targeting is a GOP-affiliated political research firm<\/a>, however, the results indicate little room for bias. In fact, they are paramount in an election where, as the analysis notes, Clinton and Trump provoke more animosity than enthusiasm. Perhaps highlighting lingering attachments to two-party thinking, Clinton\u2019s highest unfavorability rating (78 percent) came from Republicans, while Trump\u2019s highest unfavorability rating (71 percent) came from Democrats.<\/p>\n Regardless, it is undeniable Americans are fed up with the system at large. <\/strong>According to another recent poll<\/a>, just over half believe elections are rigged. Interest in third-party options, like the Libertarian and Green<\/a> parties, is also steadily growing<\/a>. As Ron Paul, the outspoken former presidential candidate, whose 2012 campaign was undermined<\/a> by the media<\/a> and Republican establishment<\/a>, recently said<\/a>, \u201cI\u2019ve never bought into this idea that the lesser of two evils is a good idea\u201d<\/em> \u2014 and Americans increasingly agree. According to a Gallup poll<\/a> released last year, 43 percent of Americans identify as independent \u2014 the highest number in the history of the poll.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, faith in mainstream media is also dwindling<\/a> \u2014 and it tends to dip even lower in election years, as Americans observe the perpetual circus acts performed by corporate outlets.<\/strong><\/p>\n With contentious power struggles raging both within the major parties and between them, Americans appear to be sobering up to the realities of party dominance and loyalty as they evolve beyond their crumbling political past.<\/p>\n It might have taken a shameless war criminal and a repugnant demagogue to finally wake Americans from their two-party stupor, but it\u2019s happening \u2014 and it\u2019s better late than never.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n
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