(07-21-2018, 05:25 PM)mikesez Wrote:

(07-21-2018, 03:02 PM)Byron LeftTown Wrote: Right now the parties are being fractured because the elites are pushing to the extreme left and right, or at least trying to create the illusion that those are the only 2 positions.  Just as the middle class is disappearing, so is the moderate political stance.  You are either a snowflake or a Nazi.  Note that both sides are fighting for "freedom" and the "right to exist".  

I wouldn't be too concerned if our 2-party (or 1-party) system fractured a bit and splintered into 3 or 4 parties.  The Dems are pushing toward open socialism and open borders, which leaves millions of traditional Democrats without a platform.  Same goes for Republicans.  Tea Party types vs Neocon warmongers, and Trump doesn't seem to fit in either group.  

If you look deeper, you see the extremes on both the right and left are globalist and both of the centers are nationalist.  That's the real divide.

By Duverger's rule, a "third" party can only past one election.  It might replace one of the two, but then there would be two parties.
But Duverger's law suggests similar things about Mexico's system, and they have had three parties contesting their Presidency for a couple of cycles now.
In any case, it's bad enough to have a President get elected with only 43-46% of the popular vote.  The winner of Mexico's 2012 election got less than 40% of the popular vote.  There was no second round of voting. If you want more parties you need more rounds of voting, or a system where voters rank a first, second, and third choice.