Scott Conroy, a national politics reporter for Real Clear Politics, has this article about why it is so difficult for a new political party in the United States to take root, even when there is widespread antipathy for each of the two older major parties. Conroy was a network TV reporter in 2012 who covered the Mitt Romney presidential campaign full-time.

The analysis says that given the U.S. winner-take-all system, combined with a separate election for president (as opposed to a parliamentary system), it is virtually impossible for a new party to arise. But this ignores the fact that in the 19th century, when the United States had the same election structure, three times one major party died off and was replaced by another. The Federalist Party died after 1820, to be replaced in 1825 by the National Republican Party (which ran John Quincy Adams for president in 1828, and Henry Clay in 1832). The National Republican Party died off and was replaced by the Whig Party in 1835. It died off during the Civil War, having already been replaced as a major party by the Republican Party.

The article has interesting information about Americans Elect.

For several years, Pennsylvania activists have been trying to persuade the legislature to pass the ballot access reform bill, which in the current two-year session is SB 195. The bill has never had a committee hearing. However, State Senator Lloyd Smucker (R-Lancaster), who is chair of the committee that handles election law bills in the Senate, will meet with members of the Pennsylvania Ballot Access Coalition on January 9, 2014, at 8:30 a.m. He had earlier promised to meet with them on October 28, 2013, but that meeting had been cancelled.

A majority of members of the Committee either co-sponsor the bill, or have said that they favor a hearing, but so far Senator Smucker has not scheduled a hearing.

According to this article, the Republican Party may hold its 2016 presidential convention in late June. As the article says, that would be the earliest major party presidential convention since 1948, when Republicans met June 21-25 in Philadelphia.

Such an early date would eliminate meaningful presidential primaries in California, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, South Dakota, and Utah, the states with June presidential primaries. Republican rules require states to have chosen their delegates 35 days before the convention opens. It is possible the Republican Party can persuade those states to move their presidential primaries to an earlier date. Much will depend on whether the Democratic Party also moves its national convention to an earlier date. In 2012, both major parties nominated in September. Thanks to PoliticalWire for the link.