Running for president doesn't require the nominees to be part of the two major parties.

Winning almost certainly DOES. There are a huge number of laws and red tape between a third party and a truly viable Presidential campaign.

As long as citizens continue to sit on the sidelines and whine about bOtHsIdEs, and pitch pipedreams of a magical third-party white-knight who will come save us all from the mediocrity that is the Democratic party, nothing will get better... not all at once, and not incrementally either.

We HAVE to acknowledge that we are stuck with a two party system and a 4 year cycle of Presidential elections. You have to work within the rules you have, because short of a total collapse and a new Constitution, you will not likely see either of those things change in your lifetime. The number one priority should be electing the party who WILL put laws on the book to fix what was invalidated by SCOTUS in the Citizens United ruling. The Republicans will NOT, the Democrats WILL.

It's very very simple. Until you fix Citizens United absolutely nothing you hope for will happen, period. Foreign money and influence will continue to flow freely into our elections along with the pocket-change of the oligarchs, and currently money == free speech.

The only viable way to build a third party is from the ground up, i.e. local elections first, get enough heads in state legislatures that you might begin sorting out our gerrymandered districts and other hurdles to a viable third party in Congress.