2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: Hillary reminds the Bernie folks that he wasn't a Democrat until now, and they don't like it. [View all]monicaangela
(1,508 posts)have something to do with this: The American system is commonly called a "two-party system" because there have historically been only two major political parties with candidates competing for offices (especially in federal elections). The first two political parties had their origins in the debate over the ratification of the Constitution--the Federalists and Antifederalists. Today, the Republican and Democratic Parties dominate electoral politics. Almost every federal or state-level elected official in the United States is either a Republican or Democrat. In fact, in the United States Congress, there is only one member in the House of Representatives that is not a Republican or a Democrat--Rep. Bernie Sanders of Vermont is an Independent. Every other House member and Senator belongs to either the Democratic or Republican Party.
The American two-party system is the result of the way elections are structured in the United States. Representatives in the Congress and in state legislatures are elected to in single-member districts where the individual with the most votes wins. Because only one party's candidate can win in each district, there is a strong incentive for political competitors to organize themselves into two competing "teams" or parties. By doing so, party members and their candidates maximize their chances of winning elections. (In some countries where there are multi-member districts, parties that win smaller percentages of the vote can often win legislative representation. Consequently, in such systems, there is an incentive to form smaller "third" parties.) Other features of the American system of elections, such as campaign finance rules, the electoral college and rules giving party candidates ballot access further solidify the two-party system in the United States.
The same features of the American system that have encouraged a two-party system also serve to discourage the emergence of third parties. When third parties have emerged in American political history, their successes have been short-lived. In most cases, the issues or ideas championed by third parties have been "stolen" by the candidates of one of the two major parties. Sometimes the issue position taken by the third party is even incorporated into the platform of one of the existing parties. By doing so, the existing party generally wins the support of the voters that had been the support base of the third party. With no unique issues to stand on and depleted voter support, third parties generally fade away.
http://www.thisnation.com/question/042.html
We all know the system is rigged, and if we know it I'm sure Bernie Sanders and any other candidate that would want to run for the office of President knows it as well. You almost have to run under the banner of one of the two major parties, otherwise you're labeled a spoiler, or your platform is conveniently stolen by the opposition. I find it irritating to say the least that a person that has caucused with the democratic party for 25 years is all of a sudden considered a usurper by those who with a straight face try to paint him as someone who is not a part of the party. The hypocrisy of attempting to label a person as a Johnny come lately because that person understands how the political system works is despicable, that is why Hillary Clinton was booed in the Town Hall last night when she tried to do so.