Voters pine for a third party
But new poll shows they’re not wild about current crop
A new Gallup poll shows nearly 6 in 10 Americans would like to see a third major party in American politics — a new high for a presidential election this century.
What people don’t appear to want, though, is the actual third-party candidates who are running in 2016.
First: The desire. Gallup shows 57 percent want a major American third party, while 37 percent say the existing two parties do an adequate job and that a third party isn’t needed.
The number calling for a third party is up significantly, from 46 percent in 2012 and 47 percent in 2008. Gallup didn’t poll this question in 2004, but in 2003, just 40 percent wanted a major third party.
Andthe desire for a third party isn’t even due to Hill- ary Clinton and Donald Trump being the most unpopular presidential nominees in modern history. It actually spiked in 2013 and has remained steady, between 57 percent and 60 percent, ever since.
Given this and the unpopularity of the two major-party nominees, it would seem a very good time for the likes of Gary Johnson and Jill Stein, who are running as the Libertarian and Green Party nominees, respectively. And both of them have polled reasonably well, compared to past third-party candidates.
But neither is threatening to make the debate stage — which would require 15 percent in the polls — and both have actually seen their support drop off some in recent weeks. In other words: Despite this pining for real third-party alternatives, they’re not capitalizing.
In national polls of a four-way race, Johnson is at 7.2 percent and Stein is at 2.3 percent in the Real Clear Politics average of polls.
Part of the reason neither has caught on is that people just don’t seem to like either of them.
Johnson has had some gaffes recently, most notably when he didn’t appear to know what Aleppo was in a Sept. 8 interview. And polls suggest he might have paid a price. A Bloomberg poll last week showed his favorable rating at 24 percent, with 39 percent of people disliking him. Back in August, his split was an even 21-21 in the same poll.