In this classic clip from The Simpsons, the predatory and malevolent aliens Kang and Kodos win the Republican and Democrat nominations for president. So, given that the US has a two-party system, they are the only choices available that are likely to win. After all, as libertarians have been cautioned many times, voting for a third party would be a “wasted vote.”
The two-party system, which most in the US take for granted as the normal state of things, is actually highly unusual among the world’s democracies and entirely the product of corruption and process manipulation on the part of the Democratic and Republican parties. So says Richard Winger, long-time editor of Ballot Access News, and the foremost expert on ballot access and US election law. “There are so many ways in which the US is near the bottom of democracies.” He is interviewed by Reason in this 12-minute clip.