There are two political narratives in American politics: One side with a million reasons to “impeach 45.” The other side with a million reasons why calls for impeachment are just another partisan sham.

Those who step outside these narratives risk being sidelined, including the majority of Americans who no longer trust either side to represent them.

What is missing from the conversation are the schemes both parties use to kill political competition in the US -- from rigged primaries to partisan gerrymandering to exclusionary debate rules.

Democrats looking to make any headway in the 2020 elections might do better to keep their message positive and constructive, rather than rancorous and partisan.

A recent Monmouth University poll found that a staggering majority of Independent voters oppose an impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump, even as Democratic Party leaders and their allies in the mainstream media make an aggressive push for impeachment.

US Rep. Jamie Raskin (MD-08) and a group of House colleagues have introduced a bill -- the Ranked Choice Voting Act (HR 4464) -- that would require states to adopt ranked choice voting for primary and general elections for congressional elections beginning in 2022.

Ranked choice voting allows voters to rank the candidates in order of preference and guarantees the winner has over 50% of the vote.

The Arizona Democratic Party has given the state’s 1.3 million independent voters a hard snub ahead of the 2020 election. Party officials rejected a proposal Saturday to open its presidential preference election, despite urging from younger party activists and nonpartisan reformers to support the idea.

Instead, both major political parties continue to send voters a clear message: “Pick a party” or don’t vote.