I think the likelihood of a 3rd party is greater than you believe. Look up Ross Perot in the 1992 election. Had he not dropped out, he would have likely beaten both Bush and Clinton, as he was leading in the polls against both.

Eventually, someone with money and a lot of guts will run 3rd party and win. Ross Perot was almost there, but didn't quite make it due to death threats against family, but someone will pick up that mantle. I think America wants a 3rd party, but there is just too much money in the R's and D's pockets that squashes the message out. Heck, in Ohio, I know enough Republican committee people that would gladly vote and turn Libertarian if they were viable. Its just a matter of time before someone with a good brand name steps out and turns the country upside down.

Just look at the history of both parties as VIper said. Both have been critical to the destruction of the US.

For leaders, you have the following:

Teddy Roosevelt (first significant expansion of government power since Lincoln, massive conservation efforts that allowed government to expand its reaches into parks, massively increased state spending during tenure as well, ect) - Republican

Woodrow Wilson (got America into World War 1, created the Federal Reserve, expanded government greater than any other president before him) - Democrat

Herbert Hoover (helped grow the depression into a disaster by signing Smoot-Hawley among other things. Tried to solve the depression by massive taxation and expansion of government services which had the inverse effect) - Republican

Franklin Delano Roosevelt (the pinnacle of government expansion. CCC, attempted 2nd Bill of Rights, Social Security, New Deal, ect. Supposed savior of the Depression but actually caused a double-dip in 1937)

Lyndon Baynes Johnson, aka LBJ (Vietnam War, Medicare, Medicaid, pretty much lost us Vietnam too due to micromanagement of war - cost tens of thousands of American lives due to Vietnam, and thanks to his expansion of Social Security, has continued to burden us with debt and poor pension choices many years later) - Democrat

Jimmy Carter (stagflation, appeasement, energy crisis, Community Reinvestment Act founded under his administration and totally incompetent as a president) - Democrat

George HW Bush (S&L scandal, raised taxes when he said he wouldn't, ect) - Republican

George W. Bush (Patriot Act, Medicare Part D, Iraq/Afghanistan, TARP, NCLB, began the mess that Obama has accellerated) - Republican

Barak Obama (Stimulus & Recovery Act, ObamaCare, continued massive expansion of government, Libyan Interference, ect) - Democrat

These are just the ones off the top of my head. There have been good ones from both parties - Harding, Cooledge, Truman, Eisenhower, Reagan, Clinton. Our mess is the fault of both parties. Both are sides of the same coin. Democrats created the welfare and entitlement state due to FDR and LBJ. Republicans have had a lot of expensive wars after Nixon attempted to finish LBJ's mess in Vietnam and have subtly allowed federal government to grow, despite lying to people as being the party of small government. To argue only one party causes all of the mess is just sheer idiocy. I would personally put the blame as 60% Dem, 40% Republican entirely due to Obama tipping the scales against the Dems in the past 3 years (up through Bush I would have put it at 50/50).

Great presidents have been unseen as of late. I'd only ascribe Grover Cleveland (1888-1892 and 1896-1900) and Hardiong/Cooledge (1920-1928) as being great in my opinion.... With Clinton/Reagan being in the 2nd tier of good ones.

Wow and you say my post is misleading?!?! 

Actually, the Democrats have done this as well. GE failed to pay billions last year due to loopholes. Additionally, companies like GE gave millions to the Democrats. Both parties get paid by corporations. Furthermore, when you argue about small businesses: Which party do small businesses vote for? The answer is Republicans. Look at NFIB ratings among all candidates, and you will find that Republicans are rated far and above Democrats by the NFIB (National Federation of Independant Businesses - which is the leading interest group for small businesses).

Yes we know that both parties are courrupt but this is what the Republican party did in 2007. Keep in mind these are just some scandals that were caught. And these includes sex scandels, fraud taking millions of dollars from many compaines and not returning the money. And taking a lot of money from small companies to secure government contracts. A couple ratings don't mean shit. 

January 23, 2007: Republican radio personality Scott Eller Cortelyou of Denver arrested on suspicion of using the Internet to lure a child into a sexual relationship

January 29, 2007: Republican former Jefferson County, Colorado, Treasurer Mark Paschall indicted on two felony charges "in connection with an allegation that Paschall solicited a kickback from a bonus he awarded one of his employees"

January 31, 2007: Republican Congressman Gary Miller is named by Republicans as ranking member of oversight subcommittee of House Financial Services Committee despite the FBI's investigation into his land deals

February 14, 2007: Major Republican fundraiser Brent Wilkes and former CIA executive director Kyle "Dusty" Foggo are indicted by a grandy jury for corrupting CIA contracts

February 16, 2007: Major Republican donor Abdul Tawala Ibn Ali Alishtari, aka Michael Mixon, is indicted in federal court on charges of providing material support to terrorists

March 5, 2007: Ethics complaint filed against Republican Senator Pete Domenici for his role in the Attorney Purge scandal

March 6, 2007: I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney found guilty of obstruction of justice and perjury

March 8, 2007: Republican former U.S. Congressman and Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich admits to extramarital affair

March 23, 2007: Former Deputy Interior Secretary J. Steven Griles, an oil and gas lobbyist who became an architect of George W. Bush's energy policies, pleads guilty to obstructing justice by lying to a Senate committee

March 27, 2007: Criminal charges filed against Republican Pennsylvania State Senator Robert Regola in connection with the death of a teenage neighbor who was shot with the senator's gun; he is accused of three counts of perjury, allowing possession of a firearm by a minor, recklessly endangering another person and false swearing

March 27, 2007: Ronald Reagan's budget director, David Stockman, "indicted on charges of defrauding investors and banks of $1.6 billion while chairman of Collins & Aikman Corp., an auto parts maker that collapsed days after he quit"

March 28, 2007: Robert Vellanoweth, a Republican activist and appointee of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, is arrested on suspicion of gross vehicular manslaughter and felony driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, after a crash that killed three adults and one child

April 18, 2007: The FBI raids the home of Republican Congressman John Doolittle, investigating his ties to Jack Abramoff

April 19, 2007: The FBI raids a business tied to the family of Republican Congressman Rick Renzi, as part of an investigation into his business dealings

April 23, 2007: The FBI questions Republican Congressman Tom Feeney about his dealings with Jack Abramoff

April 23, 2007: Federal auditors find repeat violations of federal election law from the 2004 Senate campaign of Republican Senator Mel Martinez

April 26, 2007: David Huckabee, son of Republican Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, is arrested at an Arkansas airport after a federal X-ray technician detected a loaded gun in his carry-on luggage

May 4, 2007: Bruce Weyhrauch and Pete Kott, former Alaska state Republican legislators, were arrested and accused of soliciting and accepting bribes from the corrupt VECO Corporation

May 4, 2007: Republican state Assemblyman Michael Cole is censured and stripped of his leadership position after the married father of two spent the night at a 21-year-old intern's apartment

May 11, 2007: A field coordinator for Republican Congressman Patrick McHenry is indicted for voter fraud in North Carolina

May 12, 2007: NBC News breaks the story that the FBI is investigating Republican Nevada Governor Jim Gibbons for suspicion of accepting bribes in exchange for securing government contracts

May 15, 2007: Connecticut Republican Party Chairman Chris Healy is arrested for drunk driving (he pled no contest on June 1, but didn't publicly disclose the event until June 11)

May 18, 2007: Republican former South Dakota State Representative Ted Klaudt is charged with eight counts of second-degree rape, two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, one count of sexual contact with a child younger than 16, two counts of witness tampering and one count of stalking against two foster children in his care

May 21, 2007: Republican state Senate candidate Mark Tate is indicted on nine counts of perjury and two counts of election fraud by a grand jury

June 11, 2007: Republican Senator Larry Craig is arrested for lewd conduct in the men's bathroom of an airport

June 19, 2007: South Carolina Republican state Treasurer and South Carolina Chairman of Giuliani for President Thomas Ravenel is indicted by a grand jury on cocaine distribution charges

July 2, 2007: President George W. Bush commutes the sentence of former Cheney Chief of Staff I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby following Libby's conviction on obstruction of justice and perjury

July 3, 2007: A grand jury report declares that the sale of public land to Republican Congressman Ken Calvert and his business partners violated the law

July 11, 2007: Republican state Representative and Florida co-Chairman of McCain for President Bob Allen is arrested for soliciting a male undercover police officer, offering to pay $20 to perform oral sex

July 16, 2007: Republican Senator David Vitter holds press conference acknowledging being on the D.C. Madam's list and past involvement with prostitutes

July 16, 2007: Story breaks that Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski was involved in a sweetheart real estate deal

July 19: Republican former state legislator Coy Privette is charged with six counts of aiding and abetting prostitution

July 24, 2007: Michael Flory, former head of the Michigan Federation of Young Republicans, pleads guilty to sexual abuse

July 26, 2007: Media report that Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski will sell back land purchased in a sweetheart deal, following close scrutiny of the shady transaction

July 29, 2007: Glenn Murphy Jr., recently-elected Chairman of the Young Republican National Federation, is accused of sexually assaulting a sleeping man

July 30, 2007: The FBI and IRS raid the home of Republican Senator Ted Stevens following investigations into Stevens' dealings with the corrupt VECO Corporation

August 2, 2007: Bush administration senior adviser Karl Rove disregards a Congressional subpoena and refuses to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee

August 6, 2007: Investigation called for after House Republican Leader John Boehner leaked classified information regarding a secret court ruling over warrantless wiretapping

August 8, 2007: Republican Senator Larry Craig pleads guilty to misdemeanor disorderly conduct following his June 11 arrest

August 9, 2007: Major Republican donor Alan Fabian is charged with 23 counts of bankruptcy fraud, mail fraud, money laundering, obstruction of justice, and perjury

August 15, 2007: Republican state House candidate Angelo Cappelli is arrested for perjury and grand theft

August 22, 2007: Republican political consultant Roger Stone resigns his role with the New York state Senate Republicans after reports surfaced that he made a "threatening, obscenity-laced" phone call to the 83-year-old father of Governor Eliot Spitzer

August 27, 2007: Story breaks that Republican Senator Larry Craig was arrested and pled guilty - he had not publicly disclosed the events to that point

And despite the Republican's treating the middle class and lower class like shit those guys still support them.

Again, how, exactly?

OMG don't make me start this. Well I guess it's too late. The health care system? And the three main reasons why they hate the poor are...

1. They think the poor are lasy. Which isn't true at all because the average poor person works for over 40+ hours a week

2.Republicans have blamed the poor for this financial crysis that they are going through. Well what will you do when your monthly expenses outpace your income? And with hardly any finalcial or social assisstance just make things worse.

 get some people in there that will make wht has eluded us for the past billion yrs or so then i'd be the first to help.

i'm still admitedly bias against the republicans except Ron Paul who would be the only republican worth voting for if he gets the nomination.

We have to help him first.  Get onboard with the campaign in any way you can.  From phonebanking to just a small donation.  It all helps.  And he'll never get that nomination if we don't help.

If we want real, honest change, we must be willing to fight against the status quo to get it.  Else we just sit idly by and then complain when nothing changes and it's all on us for doing nothing.

if i were an american

i would support neither parties but if you ask which way a country should be

a republic,just one problem that they need to re-invest some of the money and shape the society otherwise it will have problems one day.

Democracy is foolishness as it can't sustain a long term society.

its like  10 donkeys produce 100 children and then don't work for it and then tell others who work to pay for them and their lifestyle

or homosexuals demand everything should be allowed,who the hell is going to run the soceity when you are 70years old

see thats the thing. there are more then 300 elected and future elected officials who would stop Ron Paul(srry dud i fill many have done this to Obama)Obama or anyone else who seeks change.

one man can not do it all as the Presidency is not absolute power. they all have stopped Obama(IMO) and they will stop who ever else runs which is why we will see no change and dare i say the youth is no better then the old as the transition begins everyone not rich will be left to suffer regardless cause there aren't enough elected officials ready to change. if so then change would have happend before Obama talked about it.

you cant start at the top my friend. you start at the bottom and the sides to trime the fat. or start in the middle, work your way out, and eleminate currupt gov.

presidents only have as much power as congress and the senate allow them to have with the exception of executive orders and vetoes.

I think Gary Johnson proved you can have a hostile legislature and still enact positive change. For example, he vetoed 750 bills as governor from both Republicans and Democrats. Even if you had a lot of hostile people in the legislature, Ron Paul could ensure that his veto power would outweigh most bipartisan desires to increase the size and scope of government.

Eventually, people would take notice of such action and begin to elect more and more people sympathetic to such candidates, thus eventually tipping the balance in favor of libertarian ideology. One person cannot do it all - you are right. But you can a central figurehead to provide a face to a movement and grow it quickly, like what that dirty president Lincoln did.

point taken but i'm not as optimistic you friend. atlease not anymore.

we will see wht happens when the time comes until then lets hope for the best.