Many Americans want a third party. But where would it fit?

Many Americans want a third party. But where would it fit?

A version of this story appeared in CNN's What Matters newsletter. To get it in your inbox, sign up for freehere. Americans are entrenched into their partisan corners, but the party lines keep moving in weird new ways. Republicans who grew up in the Grand Old Party might not recognize a party overtaken by the Make America Great Again movement. Democrats who cheered when President Bill Clinton declared the era of big government to be over might wonder how it is that a democratic socialist is their party'scandidate for mayor of New York City. Others have followed Democratic expat and scion of Camelot Robert F. Kennedy Jr., with his Make America Healthy Again mantra, to vote for Trump. For a variety of structural reasons, two options is what most Americans get, even though poll after poll suggests few are happy with either party. Against that backdrop, it's interesting to considerElon Musk's pledgeto form an "America Party," an alternative to Republicans and Democrats, if President Donald Trump's megabill becomes law. "Our country needs an alternative to the Democrat-Republican uniparty so that the people actually have a VOICE," hewrote on his social media platform. Musk's primary concern is that the megabill adds to the national debt, he said – and not, as Trump alleges, that he's sore about the end of tax credits to encourage Americans to buy electric vehicles. The third-party pledge follows Musk's musings last month that the US needs a party "that actually represents the 80% in the middle." It's an interesting thought experiment to consider what the political middle might look like to a space and computer nerd and technocrat like Musk. He cares deeply about climate change and wants desperately for humans to be interplanetary and to live on Mars, but he opposes the megabill for all its government spending. He has strong thoughts about encouragingmore American women to have babies, but thinks the addition of people to the country through illegal immigration is an existential threat to the US. The same thought experiment crossed my mind last month when Karine Jean-Pierre, who was White House press secretary under former President Joe Biden, announced in the run-up to the publication of her memoir that she's leaving the Democratic Party. "We need to be clear-eyed and questioning, rather than blindly loyal and obedient as we may have been in the past,"she said in a statement to CNN. But it doesn't seem like Jean-Pierre's version of independence will be in the same galaxy as Musk's. One of the more interesting political campaigns of the coming months is likely to be the New York City mayor's race, in which the upstart Democrat (and democratic socialist) Zohran Mamdani will take on Eric Adams, the sitting mayor who is also a Democrat but is running as an independent. Also on the ballot as a "Fight and Deliver" independent will be former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, another Democrat, although it's not clear if he'll seriously campaign between now and November. That's a lot of different versions of Democrats New Yorkers will be able to sort through. There are, of course, existing third parties in the US. The Green and Libertarian parties appear on most ballots for president, which means they have dedicated followings across the country, but they lack the power to get anyone elected to either the House or Senate. Former Rep. Ron Paul of Texas mounted presidential campaigns as both a Libertarian and a Republican, but he got the most traction as a libertarian-minded Republican. His son, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, is one of the few Republicans now willing to cross Trump and oppose the megabill. Paul, like Musk, is worried about the national debt. A senator closer to the middle, Alaska's Lisa Murkowski, did vote for the bill, but only after securing carveouts that will help her state – but could aggravate every other American. Murkowski is that rare moderate who can survive without party backing. She won a write-in reelection campaign – thetriple lindyof politics – after losing the Republican primary in 2010. That was before her party veered even more toward Trump, but Murkowski recently told CNN's Audie Cornish there are more quiet centrist Americans than people realize. She's representing them, she said, even if Washington is a dangerous place to be a moderate. "You're roadkill in the middle," Murkowski toldCornish for her "The Assignment" podcast. Another Republican who opposed the megabill is Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina. He said cuts to Medicaid would cost too many North Carolinians their health insurance. But prioritizing the people you represent rather than the national party is anathema in today's political environment. "In Washington over the last few years, it's become increasingly evident that leaders who are willing to embrace bipartisanship, compromise, and demonstrate independent thinking are becoming an endangered species," Tillis said in a statement Sunday. Fearing a primary and Trump's wrath, or maybe just tired of defending the shrinking middle ground in the Senate, Tillis also announced he would not seek reelection next year, which immediately made his North Carolina seat Democrats' top pickup priority. Democrats must hope that a moderate like former Gov. Roy Cooper will jump in the race and defy Democrats' national branding. Perhaps Cooper would play the same kind of role as former Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia. Manchin voted with Democrats most of the time, but his tendency to buck the party leadership made him a thorn in the side of progressives. Coincidentally, when Manchin left office, Democrats lost their majority in the Senate. On his way out the door, Manchin said it wastime for a third-partyalternative, but he opted not to run for president. Kennedy did run for president after leaving the Democratic Party and his ultimate support for Trump likely brought in some new support for the president, who is now letting Kennedyrethink US vaccine policyto the consternation of the scientific community. Kennedy is also trying to take on the food industry. Help from Kennedy's independents probably helped Trump win, but maybe not as much as thenearly $300 millionMusk is known to have spent, mostly on Trump's behalf. Musk's political ventures may have now turned off Tesla's natural climate-concerned consumer base as well as the MAGA faithful. Regardless of the wealth he could spend, what middle would his America party fit into? For more CNN news and newsletters create an account atCNN.com

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July 03, 2025

Many Americans want a third party. But where would it fit?

Many Americans want a third party. But where would it fit? A version of this story appeared in CNN's What Matters newsletter. To get it ...

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Russia poses growing military threat to NATO members, Italy says

Russia poses growing military threat to NATO members, Italy says

ROME (Reuters) -Russia could have the ability to pose a military threat to NATO territory within five years, Italy's Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said on Thursday. He was addressing lawmakers on the outcome of a NATO summit last week when the military alliance agreed to increase spending on defence and security. "Allies shared concerns about the growing threat from Russia. There are no signs of conversion of Russian production to civilian purposes, not even in the event of a ceasefire," he said. Crosetto also said Russian domestic support for the war in Ukraine, begun in 2022, apparently was intact. Without saying where the figures came from, he said Russia has lost more than a million soldiers, including 200,000 in the first six months of this year. "Yet Russia managed to mobilise another 300,000 in six months without any erosion of domestic consensus," he said. Referring to the targets set last week by NATO members to increase defence and security spending as a percentage of GDP, Crosetto said Italy had already made some provisions in the budget and would not divert resources from health or pensions, confirming a Reuters report. (Reporting by Giuseppe Fonte; editing by Barbara Lewis)

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July 03, 2025

Russia poses growing military threat to NATO members, Italy says

Russia poses growing military threat to NATO members, Italy says ROME (Reuters) -Russia could have the ability to pose a military threat to ...

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Chinese aircraft carrier sails into Hong Kong to boost patriotism

Chinese aircraft carrier sails into Hong Kong to boost patriotism

HONG KONG (AP) — China's first domestically-built aircraft carrier arrived in Hong Kong on Thursday as part of a drive to drum up patriotism, days after the former British colony marked the 28th anniversary of its return to Chinese rule. The Shandong entered the city's waters alongside another vessel from its battle group in the early morning hours. According to state media, two destroyers and a frigate had accompanied the aircraft carrier into Hong Kong. The warships will be open for public visits this weekend. All 10,000 available tickets for visits have already been claimed by eager residents. Two thousand of them were for seeing the Shandong, while the others were for one of the destroyers and the frigate, local media reported. The arrival of the carrier comes days after the Asian financial hub marked 28 years since it was turned over to China after more than a century of British colonial rule. The ship is China's second aircraft carrier and first to have been fully self-built. It is smaller than U.S. carriers, carrying 24 Shenyang J-10 fighters and weighing in at 70,000 tons fully loaded. China has redoubled its patriotism drive in Hong Kong since crushing anti-government and pro-democracy street protests in 2019. A large number of opposition figures have been imprisoned after the passage of a sweeping new national security law. Hong Kong enjoys a degree of semi-autonomy and civil liberties compared to other major Chinese cities. But its government has no jurisdiction over military and foreign affairs, with Chinese military officers and a garrison of land, sea and naval forces based in the city. In April, the Chinese militarysent the Shandong, named after the Chinese province of the same name, to conduct training exerciseswith some naval and air forces in the eastern sea area and airspace of Taiwan, a self-ruled island Beijing claims as its territory. Beijing sends warplanes and naval vesselstoward Taiwan regularly, and it has stepped upthe scope and scaleof these exercises in recent years. A month later, the Shandong and China's first carrier, the Liaoning, stirred considerable attention by conducting joint exercises in the Pacific beyond what is referred to as the first island group, showing a degree of assertiveness not seen before. The Liaoning, built from an unfinished hulk purchased from Ukraine,visited Hong Kong in 2017. Another carrier, this one with a flat top rather than the "ski jump" type decks used by the first two, is undergoing sea trial and a fourth is under construction.

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July 03, 2025

Chinese aircraft carrier sails into Hong Kong to boost patriotism

Chinese aircraft carrier sails into Hong Kong to boost patriotism HONG KONG (AP) — China's first domestically-built aircraft carrier arr...

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Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw becomes 20th with 3,000 K's

Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw becomes 20th with 3,000 K's

Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw became the 20th pitcher in major league history to register 3,000 career strikeouts when he set down the Chicago White Sox's Vinny Capra to end the sixth inning on Wednesday in Los Angeles. Kershaw, 37, became just the fourth left-handed pitcher to reach the milestone, joining Randy Johnson (4,875), Steve Carlton (4,136) and CC Sabathia (3,093). Nolan Ryan is the all-time strikeout leader at 5,714. Kershaw entered the game needing three strikeouts to reach the mark. He fanned former teammate Miguel Vargas in the third inning and got Lenyn Sosa for the final out of the fifth. After whiffing Capra, Kershaw walked off the field and tipped his cap to the home crowd before getting hugs and handshakes from his teammates. It was his last batter of the game after throwing a season-high 100 pitches. Kershaw gave up four runs on nine hits and a walk, leaving with the Dodgers trailing 4-2. Los Angeles scored three times in the ninth inning for a 5-4 win. The milestone strikeout came one batter after Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy departed the game with an apparent left knee injury that occurred as he tagged out Michael A. Taylor on a stolen-base attempt. Kershaw is the third active pitcher to reach 3,000 strikeouts, as he now stands alongside Justin Verlander (3,471) and Max Scherzer (3,419). Scherzer reached 3,000 as a member of the Dodgers in September 2021. Only two other pitchers reached 3,000 entirely with one team: Bob Gibson (St. Louis Cardinals) and Walter Johnson (Washington Nationals). "If you look at the odds of doing it with the same team, the margins are very small to happen like this," Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts said before the game. "The Dodgers faithful can really appreciate that they've been on this journey with Clayton for 18 years, so it's pretty cool." In 441 career appearances (438 starts), Kershaw is 216-94 with a 2.52 ERA. The 10-time All-Star won NL Cy Young Awards in 2011, 2013 and 2014, and he was chosen the NL's Most Valuable Player in 2014. Kershaw helped the Dodgers win the 2020 World Series, but he missed the 2024 postseason due to injury during Los Angeles' title run. --Field Level Media

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July 03, 2025

Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw becomes 20th with 3,000 K's

Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw becomes 20th with 3,000 K's Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw became the 20th pitcher in major league his...

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'That is football': Mauricio Pochettino lauds Guatemala fans, challenges U.S. soccer culture after Gold Cup win

'That is football': Mauricio Pochettino lauds Guatemala fans, challenges U.S. soccer culture after Gold Cup win

ST. LOUIS — The question was about chance creation. But Mauricio Pochettino wanted to talk about soccer culture. He was speaking after hisU.S. men's national team beat Guatemala 2-1 here in a Gold Cup semifinal. But of all the things he witnessed Wednesday, what apparently impressed Pochettino the most was "the fans of Guatemala … Unbelievable," he said. And then he spoke for two minutes and 40 seconds straight, from the heart, about what he hoped U.S. soccer would learn from the experience. From thepassion that filled Energizer Park immediately when gates opened at 4:30 p.m.From the chants that rang and the flags that rippled and "the energy that translates" to the field, as Pochettino said. It inspired Guatemalan players, who on paper were overmatched, but on Wednesday put a mighty scare into the USMNT. After they came up just short, "I saw a player of Guatemala crying," Pochettino said. He congratulated that player, then used him as an example 20 minutes later. "That," he said, "is the way that we need to feel." "And our fans need to feel the same," he continued. "It's not to come here to enjoy all the spectacle, and if you lose, nothing happens. … Things happen." Pochettino is from Argentina. "In Argentina, it's not the same if we lose. The consequences are massive," he explained. They're significant as well in Spain, France and England, where he spent 30 years as a player and coach beforetaking charge of the USMNT last fall. "Win or lose, it's not the same. It's not the same. It's a lot of consequence," he reiterated at his postmatch press conference. His stateside move, in this sense, has clearly been a culture shock. He has inherited players who, he seemingly feels, do not have the same level of life-or-death desire that gets ingrained in kids throughout South and Central America. In many countries, "you play [to] survive. You play for food. You play for pride," Pochettino said. "You play for many things. It's not to go and enjoy, and go home, and laugh, and that's it. "The moment that we — now, this roster — start to live in this way, I think we have big room to improve." He hasn't explicitly said that his players go home and laugh after wins. But many grew up in a country, the U.S., where soccer is not played to survive, to escape poverty, to change a family's life; it typically begins as a recreational pursuit,often in middle-class suburbs. It becomes something more as talented kids join academies, and then turn pro, of course; there is a level of "desperation," though — a word Pochettino has used — that is socially ingrained elsewhere but not here. And it's reinforced, if not mandated, by fans. Fans who demand everything by giving everything. Fans who buzz around a stadium at 10 a.m., then fill it at 6 p.m., and stand for 90 minutes, and chant: "Sí se puede!"Yes we can! "I think the fans gave to you, to Guatemala, an unbelievable energy," Pochettino said. Veteran defender Tim Ream agreed: "It spurred them on to push and fight." "That is football," Pochettino said, and then he repeated the line twice more. "That is football. That is football." That "connection between the fans and the team," he said, "that is the connection that we [would] like to see in the World Cup. That connection that makes you fly." In his time atop the USMNT, instead, he has seen several half-empty stadiums. And even when full, the environments are relatively laid-back, inorganic or tame. The apathy surrounding the team has likely opened his eyes, and sometimes seems difficult for him to fathom. What he hadn't yet experienced, though, until Wednesday, was a true road game at home. "It was like [playing] in Guatemala," Pochettino said. "It was an atmosphere that we didn't expect," he added. And it clearly had an impact on the game. "You can't understate what a partisan crowd can do to young minds, guys who haven't experienced it," Ream said. "Sometimes, the pressure comes, the fans feel like they're on top of you, the noise is deafening, and you kinda lose it a little bit." As a few players pointed out, Pochettino should have expected it. It's a reality in the United States, where there are millions of people with ties to soccer-mad countries in Latin America. "We're a country full of immigrants. It was kind of expected for tonight," defender Chris Richards said. "It's beautiful to see how much respect they have, but also how much support they have." When told that Pochettino was surprised, Richards said: "I think Mauricio kinda being a little bit newer to the U.S., I think he wasn't quite ready for it." Ream indicated that some younger players were taken aback, too. He and others called it an ideal "learning experience" for Sunday's final against Mexico in Houston. "This game tonight would be like a little brother to the U.S.-Mexico game," Richards said. They'll go into Sunday better equipped, mentally. Pochettino, though, wasn't thinking about how his team would handle that atmosphere. He was dreaming of replicating Guatemala's passion, and its impact on players, in the team that he coaches. "If you see the big teams or countries [play games], it's not playing," Pochettino said. "Today, do you think that was a sport, two teams playing, and doing a spectacle? No. You play for something more. You play for emotion. You play [to], be happy, be sad." That is what he wants here. It's a dynamic, of course, that takes decades to develop, and might never develop in a nation of unmatched wealth and unparalleled opportunity in other sports and fields. But how can it start? "I think winning helps. But I also think guys like [midfielder] Diego Luna help. I also think guys like [midfielder] Malik Tillman help," Ream said. And "fighting and togetherness" help. "Doing that fosters that connection with the fans — with the diehards, with the casuals, with everybody. And as long as we continue to do that, that culture grows. The feelings grow. And the connections grow."

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July 03, 2025

'That is football': Mauricio Pochettino lauds Guatemala fans, challenges U.S. soccer culture after Gold Cup win

'That is football': Mauricio Pochettino lauds Guatemala fans, challenges U.S. soccer culture after Gold Cup win ST. LOUIS — The ques...

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