Both of American’s major political parties are suicidal, and 2024 may be the year they’ll get what they deserve.

A recent poll shows that only 24% of Americans want President Biden to run again, and only 30% want former President Donald Trump on the ballot.
Yet both parties seem hellbent on nominating them. Why? Because they are hopelessly out of touch with the American people.

The Democrats are controlled by a far-left minority, and the Republicans by a far-right minority. They both love to demonize the opposition, and their cultlike followers become more radical by overindulging in one-sided propaganda.

Most Americans aren’t far-left or far-right. They want reasonable solutions, not kneejerk hatred. And they are so turned off by toxic politics that many of them have simply tuned out.

But the American middle is awakening. You can already see it in the growth of the No Labels and Forward party movements, and by the growing number of people who identify themselves as independent instead of as Democrat or Republican.
If Biden and Trump are the nominees in 2024, both parties may be in for a real shock. They’ll have only themselves to blame.

Joe Smyth
SCOTTSDALE

Editor’s note: Joe Smyth is the author of Fixing America’s Broken Politics. A former journalist, he’s now retired, and the opinions expressed here are his own.