This election is making it clear that the two political parties — the parties themselves, not the candidates or the supporters — are parasitic quangos. In theory, they should channel and aggregate constructive political activity, but in practice they mainly constrict and dissipate it. Unfortunately, a lot of talk about the two-party system tends to emphasize an ineffable ‘system,’ so we just end up with “this is why we can’t have nice things” rhetoric. But in reality, much of the two-party system boils down to a hodgepodge of electoral laws and procedures — things that actually could be reformed through sustained pressure at ~local levels. Trump is doing a serious job of demolishing rightist support for a two-party system. One of Sanders’s top priorities should be to challenge the leftist institutional mechanisms that enforce this system. We could end up with key parts of the two-party system caving in and the beginnings of a viable multiparty environment — which is more important than who sits in the White House 2016–2020.