Overall, 52 percent of Americans would like to add a third major political party, while only 40 percent feel Democrats and Republicans do an adequate job representing the American people, according to the latest Gallup poll. The interesting finding of this poll is that it found across the political spectrum, liberals, moderates and conservatives, all equally felt the need for more than the two parties.

To help define what role Firedoglake should play in the 2012 election and beyond, on Wednesday, May 11, at 7:00 pm EDT, I plan, as part of the FDL members webinar series, to examine four basic electoral strategies that have been used by groups or organizations to influence the political process.

In a press conference concluded just moments ago, Charlie Crist, the Governor of Florida, announced he would end his campaign for US Senate as a Republican and run with no party affiliation. This sets up a likely three-way race for the Florida seat between Crist, Republican Marco Rubio and Democrat Kendrick Meek.

Tomorrow we will discover Charlie Crist’s decision on whether to leave the Republican Party and run for the US Senate as an independent. And apparently, he’s taken a look at the idea in a poll, and saw numbers he liked.

It’s a testament to the institutional power of the Republican Party that not even the man Charlie Crist appointed to the US Senate, his former chief of staff, would follow him to an independent bid if Crist decided on that option.

Larry Kissell, one of the three North Carolina Dems who voted No on health care, has a primary challenger in Nancy Shakir, and this might be somewhere the NC First Party wants to go. But the primary is, um, next month, and right now NC First is in the “talking” and “figuring out what it wants to do” stage of development. It is virtually impossible for it to be a factor in the 2010 midterms.