The two party binary works very hard to keep it that way, but they've overplayed their hand. Most Americans can't afford a $500 emergency. Multiple generations have grown up under mediocre neoliberalism & conservatism & are over both. 40-50% of the eligible population doesn't even vote.

The disparity between the buying power people have now & what their parents or grandparents had at their age has simply become too wide for the usual distractions or propaganda to be effective. People have started to catch on that they're being exploited while the oligarchy gets fat.

People also know both parties are complicit in that, though obviously Republicans are more shameless. & A lot of folks still get swept up in the vibes when Dems do empty performative bullshit, but younger folks more uniformly have had enough of both & are ready to flip the table.

A political party is not a single atomic entity. So when one thinks about a political party as a single atomic entity, one is likely to reach poor conclusions.

Flip the table then. Let's see a third party to the left of the Democrats with double digit national support. I'll support it!

The two party system is a byproduct of the first past the post voting system. Until you change that, the political landscape will always collapse into a binary system. In my lifetime there has been one serious national candidate who campaigned on changing it. Tim Walz.