If Americans want change, why do the voters demonstrate a lack of proclivity to support the 3rd party?

[Blu]

I submit the last 10 yrs. of 'politics as usual' to illustrate my concern.
Why not elect some 3rd party candidates into Congress to provide some free thinking and act as swing votes?
* the 3rd party candidates

[THE EVIL PENGUIN]

The US has a majoritarian first-past-the-post system that isn't conducive to third parties. It's virtually impossible for third parties to thrive in such a system. Americans know this to an extent.

[macdoodle]

We must first have Fair elections
before we can have viable third parities winning on more than a fluke.

Obama did put out a call to support Fair Elections in Jan that could have been implemented for NOV 2010 But few answered the call.

Remember too, that BIG BIZ would not be pleased to have that Elite Wall Street /CEO power structure and $$ influence broken... and that is where all the money and advertising/information power is.

[flower]

The Dems and Repubs kept a third party out. it was only successful when Ross Perot got 20% of the vote using his billionaire bucks.

[ConansOwner]

It does seem that we Americans have short memories & short attention spans. Most do not know who Henry Paulson was & did. Most do not remember getting a $600 check for getting screwed out Social Security. OR it could be a masochistic addiction to fanciful dreams of becoming instantly wealthy w/o trying.

Also 3rd Parties are a very hard sell since most are extreme to opposite poles of politics.

[Will]

It's complicated...

1. Marketing.

People choose products with which they're familiar. People don't know third parties and therefore tend to shy away from them.

2. Election Method.

The USA does not have Proportional Representation; it has a Single Member District Plurality (SMDP) style of election. This means that in a crowded field, the winner is the one who gets the largest number of votes, whether or not that person gets a majority. These election systems punish third parties.

3. Political Realism.

By and large, the American voter does not like to throw away a vote on a third party. Some people (yourself included) see their vote as a form of protest; but most people don't see it that way. They want their vote to count, and so they ask which of the major party candidates has a message that's close enough to what the voters wants, and then they choose that person.

4. Lack of Coherent Message.

Let's face it, what's out there as a viable third party these days? The messages we get from third parties tend to be narrow, cramped and ideological. As stated above, Americans are political realists, not idealists. They vote on bread and butter issues, and they're not moved by the ideological siren songs of the third parties (Greens, Libertarians, etc, etc). The success of the two major parties, in large measure, is because they attempt to address these issues. Do they do so successfully? Well, not really in terms of policy output; but they're the only games in town even speaking in those terms.

If a third party is going to be successful in attracting votes it needs to conform to the overall issue base of the majority of voters and it needs to be galvanized by a charismatic leader of national appeal.

The demographics are clear on this. Most Americans are fiscal Conservatives and social Liberals. Unfortunately, this is why Neither party can satisfy the voting public.

Create a new national based party dedicated to tight fiscal policy, and keeping government out of people's bedrooms, and then, find a nationally known charismatic figure with actual street-cred, and you've got a combination that will blow the other two parties out of the water. I'm convinced of it.

[Darth Ems]

Because the media do everything they can to crush and discredit third parties. I don't know why this happens, but don't you find there's a strong message that "only a fool would vote for" a third party candidate? Or "you're just throwing away your vote" on a third-party candidate? Or "third party candidates are all crazy and extreme."

I think that's why. The makers of public opinion do not favour third party candidates.