OPINION:
Over the span of America’s 250-year history, there have been numerous political parties. Yes, it did eventually work its way down to just two parties that are barely distinguishable (at least in the way that they never solve any problems and have each contributed equally to the nation’s $38 trillion debt), but there once were many more.
The parties were so similar over the years that Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and James Monroe, three of the first five presidents, ran on the Democratic-Republican ticket. There have been Whigs and Anti-Lecompton Democrats and Unconditional Unionists and Liberal Republicans and Populists — and one time even a party called the Nullifiers, which held that states could unilaterally declare federal laws unconstitutional.
But for most of modern times, Democrats and Republicans have treated the U.S. political landscape like sports. You were either Team Red or Team Blue, and you wore your jersey with pride (or at least quiet resignation). But according to the latest numbers from Gallup, the American public has finally decided to give up their teams.
Right now, we are witnessing a mass exodus. A record high 45% of U.S. adults identified as political independents in 2025, leaving the two major parties fighting over the scraps.
To put that into perspective, while the pundits on cable news scream at each other about base mobilization, the actual “base” has left the building. The Democrats and Republicans are currently tied, capturing a pathetic 27% each of the population.
It’s not just a statistical blip; it’s a humiliation for the establishment. In most years since Gallup started tracking this by phone in 1988, independents were the largest group, but they were usually hovering around a manageable number.
Yet in the past 15 years, that number has skyrocketed. We are now consistently seeing independent identification at levels not reached before 2011. The trend line is clear: The more the parties talk, the more Americans walk.
So, who’s leading the charge in this rebellion against the binary? The kids, of course.
If you were hoping the youths would save the two-party system, brace yourself. The recent surge in independent identification is being driven by younger generations who seem allergic to labels. In 2025, majorities of Gen Z adults and millennials identified as political independents.
Gen Z, the generation famous for disrupting everything from the workplace to the napkin industry, has now set its sights on the political duopoly. A whopping 56% of Gen Z adults identify as independents today.
Compare that with the 40% of Gen Xers who felt that way in 1992. The youths aren’t just apathetic; they’re actively opting out of the game. Meanwhile, the boomers and the Silent Generation are the last ones holding down the fort, with only one-third or less identifying as independent. The older you get, the more likely you are to cling to the partisan security blanket.
The report notes that party preferences in 2025 have essentially reverted to what they were during President Trump’s first term. And here lies the crux of the issue, the dirty little secret that neither the Democratic National Committee nor the Republican National Committee wants to acknowledge: Americans aren’t voting for anyone anymore. They are voting against the guy currently sitting in the chair.
The analysis puts it bluntly: “Importantly, these party shifts do not indicate that Americans are warming to the Democratic Party. In fact, favorable ratings of the Democratic Party are no better than those of the Republican Party and are among the worst Gallup has recorded for the Democratic Party historically.”
Read that again. The Democrats are “winning” the lean war right now, but their favorability ratings are in the toilet. It’s a race to the bottom.
The shifts we are seeing are just a consequence of one party being associated with an unpopular incumbent. First, it was President Biden; now it’s Mr. Trump. The incumbent president’s party has lost control of the presidency or one house of Congress in each of the past six presidential or midterm elections.
The bottom line is this: The two-party system is operating on fumes. When 45% of your customer base decides to go freelance, you don’t have a marketing problem; you have a product problem. The Republicans and Democrats can continue to fight their culture wars and gerrymander their districts, but they’re fighting over a shrinking kingdom.
The majority of America has moved on, identifying as “political independents” because “fed up, exhausted, and annoyed” wasn’t an option on the survey.
• Joseph Curl covered the White House and politics for a decade for The Washington Times. He can be reached at josephcurl@gmail.com and on Twitter @josephcurl.
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