Two recent polls of U.S. voters confirm 2010 as an interesting political moment for America, and I think the implication for the Massachusetts gubernatorial election is quite striking. A USA Today/Gallup poll finds record support for a major third political party. While 62% of Tea Party supporters want a third party, 61% of liberals want the same! The poll’s conclusion is that “fifty-eight percent of Americans believe a third major political party is needed because the Republican and Democratic Parties do a poor job of representing the American people.”

A recent New York Times/CBS News poll, meanwhile, finds that women voters, who historically outnumber voting men, and historically support Democratic Party candidates, are less likely to vote this year. While the Times is opaque about the actual poll results, they claim “the poll suggests that they may stay home this year, giving more of the decision-making to men by default” and that “so far in this election, women have not been nearly as attentive as men and have expressed less enthusiasm about voting.”

Taken together, I think Jill Stein’s gubernatorial bid in Massachusetts just might serve as an impetus for women to voice their distaste, and for Massachusetts voters on the whole to advance a potent political alternative.

While Stein needs only a quarter of the vote plus one to win in this plurality system, women voters make up about 53% of registered voters. Given Stein’s debate performances, her principled and popular positions on issues that the other candidates are weak on, and the tone-deaf support for status quo politics coming from the three establishment candidates, these recent polls show that the raw material is there for a political breakthrough. A lot will rest on Stein’s debate performance in the first consortium debate Tuesday night. If she breaks through there, she can have a fruitful fundraising run leading up to this Friday’s deadline for qualifying contributions.

Here’s hoping, because it really is time for a party!