U.S. voters like third parties, just not these 2 third-party candidates

A new Gallup poll shows nearly six 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 thirdparty 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.

And the desire for a third party isn’t even because of Hillary 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 with 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.

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. That’s the lowest Johnson has been since late July and the lowest Stein has been since before the summer. Part of the reason neither has caught on is that people don’t seem to like either of them.

A Bloomberg poll last week showed Johnson’s favorable rating at 24 percent, with 39 percent of people disliking him. Stein also has poor numbers. Bloomberg put her split at 16-38, while Franklin Pierce had her at a less terrible but still negative 14-25.