"Both Parties"

[Deblano]

I'd say the problem is that Americans are highly encouraged to choose from the grey slop with a D on it or the grey slop with an R on it, so they get very furious and brush off both parties as being "extreme" since neither of them represent the American people that well.

The bigger problem IMO is while the Republicans are much more extreme than the Democrats, they are both horrifically corrupt and only seek to gain power and nothing more. The Republicans also have a lot more ideologies that can't get along with each other even on stuff like healthcare or tax cuts, while the Democrats are more streamlined in ideology (since they do a """better""" job of keeping the Berniecrats and Blue Dogs on the back seat and wagging their finger at them).

In summary, both parties are not equally extreme, but both parties are pretty corrupt and not very representative of the people. If we allowed more minor parties to have a seat at the table and participate in debates (as opposed to this stupid 15% in polls to be allowed in presidential debates rule), I think this sentiment would ease a bit since voters would have more options to choose from without being shamed for "wasting their vote" or "spoiling an election".

Of course, do not expect serious electoral reform any time soon, since that interrupts the gravy train.