Public respect for both parties in congress is now at an all-time low. The president is increasingly seen as a well-spoken empty suit who occasionally mouths popular views he doesn’t go on to defend, and invariably caves to people he purports to oppose.

There’s an opportunity here for a new national political grouping to not only challenge a political class in Washington that is so obviously out of tune with the wishes of most Americans, but to actually win the White House, and than gather into itself a large number of present Republican and Democratic operatives disgusted with their present party’s behavior. It’s an opportunity that soon, very soon, perhaps as early as right after the current obscene debt ceiling fandango ends, will bear fruit.

The fact is we no longer have a real two party system in this country. A two party system in which rational but differing views of governance compete and are then negotiated into legislation. Rather, we have a one-party system under two party names.

It’s the old Republican Party with a far-right branch, and a center-right branch that bills itself “Democrats.” Both branches of this one-in-the-form-of two parties services the same special interests, the only difference being that at certain times, most emphatically during election years, one of these branches pretends it doesn’t. Few are fooled by this pretense any longer.

The far-right branch of this Republican collective sneers that those who don’t go along with their nostrums are lefty, liberal progressives whose time has past and who are out of tune with present realities. The center-right branch of this Republican collective, currently fronted by their beard in the White House, calls these same liberal, lefty, progressives silly, shrill, and other patronizingly offensive names. Their idea here is that when 2012 rolls around this will show independents that Mr. Obama is fair and balanced, while the objects of his contempt on the left will be swayed back into his fold by another round of nicely modulated lies.

Neither branch of this two-headed Republican collective has twigged (or seems to care) that what progressives want today — protection of Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and a host of other federally funded programs the poor and middle class depend on — are what the majority of Americans also want. And that trickle down economics no longer passes the smell test for this majority, which also wants higher taxes for the rich that will make cuts for programs others need less necessary.

Discontent with the present party system is making a new party grouping that could win the White House in 2012 and perhaps a large chunk of congress as well a very real possibility.

Let the pros inside the Beltway natter about all the institutional roadblocks that render this impossible, and about the failure of past third party efforts. And when they finish nattering…

The Whigs died and the Republicans took their place with a better program in 1856. It’s gonna happen again in 2012. It’s gonna happen because this is still the United States of America, and the majority of this country’s people is not gonna be eaten alive by ideological nutters and pusilanimous careerists.

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