SAN DIEGO — It's not exactly breaking news that Americans dislike politics, distrust politicians and doubt their government.

' Twas always thus.

Thomas Jefferson saw it coming. In his book "Notes on the State of Virginia," which was published in 1782, the Father of the Declaration of Independence warned: "In every government on earth is some trace of human weakness, some germ of corruption and degeneracy, which cunning will discover, and wickedness insensibly open, cultivate, and improve."

Today, the vast majority of Americans are in a Jeffersonian state of mind.

A recent poll by the Brennan Center found that more than 9 in 10 voters (92%) agree that corruption is a big problem in politics and government. This view is held by 90% of Republicans, 93% of Democrats and 93% of Independents. Many Americans claim that politicians enrich themselves by creating systems that benefit the rich and powerful while ignoring the working class.

Here's what I don't get: Despite all the justifiable criticism aimed at the political system, how have the political parties been able to operate under the radar and avoid catching their share of the blame for the woeful state of our constitutional republic?

From the very beginning, there was a concern that the political parties — if they became too powerful — could foul up the great American experiment. That was the view of another of the Founders, who became known as the father of our country.

In his 1796 farewell address, George Washington warned that political parties might fuel division and squabbling. Washington worried that they could "become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government."

Now look at where we are. The two major political parties that run the U.S. government are themselves being swallowed up by division and squabbling.

Both Republicans and Democrats are lost in the wilderness without a compass, moral or otherwise. The political parties are in disarray, and the future is unclear.

Republicans might continue to pander to MAGA after President Donald Trump leaves office, assuming that the movement outlasts his presidency. Or, in 2028, the Republican Party might want to purge its palate of anything that tastes like Trump — from unlawful tariffs and illegal ICE raids to a wildly unpopular war against Iran.

A new poll by CBS News/You Gov found that two-thirds of Americans give Trump and his administration failing marks on their handling of the war, with 65% disapproving and only 35% approving.

There is no world in which the Iran war is not an albatross around the neck of the next GOP presidential nominee, especially if either Vice President JD Vance or Secretary of State Marco Rubio gets the nod. By the way, the outcome of that discreet tug of war — which Trump will be sure to encourage — is still unsettled.

Meanwhile, Democrats are just as bewildered and unsure.

On the one hand, all the excitement seems to be on the far left with those candidates who identify themselves with the Democratic Socialists of America. See: New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Don't get it twisted. The popularity of DSA candidates is not endorsement of free stuff, but rather a denouncement of a feckless Democratic Party establishment that doesn't stand up to Trump, adhere to principle or defend its people.

But on the other hand, there is another group of Democrats out there that are also agitated. They're headed for the middle of the road. Moderates seem to think that the way to get back the White House is to try to impersonate Republicans on issues ranging from immigration to racial justice to economic fairness.

Do the parties even know where they want to go, let alone how to get there? It doesn't look like it.

They want to win. That's a given. And there have been those moments in political history when the way to win has been through equivocation, compromise and reinvention. During the Bill Clinton administration, political observers called it "triangulation."

However, this doesn't feel like one of those moments. Saying and doing anything to win doesn't seem like the best way to win. Not when Americans are in open combat with one another.

We're exactly where George Washington feared that we would end up. What would Dad think of the mess we've made?

Our nation's first president was so worried about the dangers of political parties getting too strong that he doesn't seem to have considered how perilous things can get when they become too weak.

To find out more about Ruben Navarrette and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

Photo credit: Jade Koroliuk at Unsplash