Support for America’s two major political parties has been on the decline — and it’s only getting worse. Today political independents by far outnumber the ranks of either Democrats or Republicans. Up to two-thirds of Americans have reported in surveys that they think both parties do such a bad job that a third major party is needed. Of course, just because voters don’t like either major party doesn’t mean they’d be willing to support a third party, especially since that support would depend, among other things, on the type of party on offer.

But the combination of widespread disaffection alongside extreme party polarization has put more and more races outside the realm of possibility for any Democrat. Even economic populist Dems, like former Ohio senator Sherrod Brown, who avoid most of the pitfalls that plague Democrats’ reputation among working class voters, are unable to overcome this dynamic. The Democratic brand is now simply too tarnished and polarization too strong among working-class voters in many purple and especially red states.

Today most Democrats simply can’t win — and there is increasingly little that can be done about it. As Bernie Sanders has recently argued, it is “highly unlikely” that the Democratic high command will “learn the lessons of their defeat and create a party that stands with the working class and is prepared to take on the enormously powerful special interests that dominate our economy, our media, and our political life.”