Will there be 4 political Parties by 2020?

[kentuck]

The Republicans are in the process of splitting into, even as we speak, it seems to me. Donald Trump will have his Republican Party, consisting of his insane but loyal base, and Mitch McConnell, Paul Ryan, and the establishment Republicans, will have the remainder.

Democrats will very possibly split into a liberal, Bernie Sanders-type socialist Party and leave the establishment Democrats with the Blue Dog conservatives to carry on the present Democratic Party.

The Party that will win will be the one that can forge a coalition with one of the other three Parties. There could be an historic shift and change in the political Parties by 2020, in my opinion.

[Fresh_Start]

1. I'm very liberal and I'm not following Bernie - do not equate liberal with Bernie

its not the same thing

[RKP5637]

2. Often I think there might be more cooperation with 4 parties. What we watch constantly in

this country is a domestic cat fight between the R's and D's.

[mcar]

3. Please define "establishment Democrats"

Do they include Dems, or those who caucus with them, who have been in office for several decades? If not, why not? Who decides who is "establishment?"

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

4. If the two factions of each party

don't formally separate from each other and become different parties with different names, leadership, and so on, we will simply have two very divided political parties in three years. Not four.

I'm not doubting it could happen, but I'm wondering just how you picture it happening. Two and only two political parties are so entrenched in this country that it's hard for me to imagine anything else. And for all of you who want to point to the Libertarian Party, the Green Party, and a handful of other truly tiny entities, with all due respect, they don't count.

I can more readily envision the Republican Party formally splitting than I can the Democratic Party. Democrats take pride in their "big tent", even as they fight viciously with each other. Republicans have long been more comfortable with shutting out others.

[ismnotwasm]

5. It still comes down to a two party system

There are a number of parties already

[loyalsister]

14. Exactly

Libertarians sometimes even have primaries in my state. I'm not a fan, but I think it's good to have more voices in elections.

[marylandblue]

6. At the moment, Democrats seem more united than ever

Yes, there is intraparty sniping, but there is also a realization that we jave to hanf together in the face of a dangerous enemy. On the other hand, Trump seems determined to split his party.

[temporary311]

7. Kinda hope not.

Well, Republicans can split. But if Dems split, too, we'd basically have 3 right wing parties. One Far Right, one Right, one Center-Right, and one Left.

[SharonClark]

12. Okay, I'll bite.

If the Dems split, one part becomes Left and the other becomes ??

[temporary311]

13. Center-Right.

Though it depends. If the far right repubs split from the rest, then some of those more moderate repubs that left over the years might go back, then you'd have left, center/center-left, right, far right.

Edit: Just to be clear, I don't consider there to be many actual moderate Republicans left. We have a bad habit of calling things what they aren't in this country, so we refer to far right extremists as conservative, center-right as liberals, and center-left as commie-pinkos. Many of those 80s moderate republicans got left behind by their parties lurch to the right, and picked up by dems by that parties lurch to the right.

[SharonClark]

16. Interesting division you've laid out for the Democratic Party.

The Dems have a bigger tent than you may realize. What about far-Left, Left, Liberal, Progressive, Moderate, Centrist, or Conservative?

[temporary311]

17. Well, the OP was about 4 parties.

Not eleventy .

I'd personally prefer a multi-party system like that, but it's just not the reality of how things work here, unfortunately.

[Weekend Warrior]

8. No. There has always been left and centrist sides within the Democratic Party.

They have always gone at it. I would argue that there have been few times where our party has been as united as it is now. Just look at the last Presidential election. The was no significant third party run on the left. It has actually taken a step back since the eighties. Even Sanders wants to campaign as a Democrat. I also don't see a party split among the right outside of the libertarian candidate getting a percentage or two more of the vote. The Tea Party hi-jacking the Republican Party is where it's at.

[SharonClark]

9. No, there will still be 2 big parties and several fringe parties

The Republicans, whether Establishment, Tea Party, Libertarian, or Christian Right, will come together as they always have.
The Democrats, whether liberal or conservative, will remain Democrats and the pseudo-Dems will rejoin the Green Party, Democratic Socialists of America, or the Socialist Party of America.

[yallerdawg]

10. Don't forget.

In presidential elections, if no one gets a majority of the Electoral College, the House picks the president.

When that happens, you can bet we'll have a Constitutional crisis

Seems to me, the two-party system is baked into the cake.

[Fresh_Start]

11. Agree with you there. its baked into the Electoral College

we don't have the option of a coalition government.

[brooklynite]

15. Simple answer: no.

However appealing Trump and Sanders are, neither are prepared to do the work to build a new political party.