Would a third party fix anything?

I think just about all of us here have said at one time or another, "This is why we need a third party?" This is something I continually think about, and while I appreciate the idea in a "Go to my happy place" kind of thinking, I'm not sure it is really the answer we are seeking. For anyone who is further right of center, there already exists the Tea Party. Unlike the Green Party, the Teas have actually gotten something done with grass roots efforts...........and a shit ton of money from people like the Kochs. They have almost single handedly gridlocked congress and are undeniably partly to blame/applaud for forcing Boehner to rely on Democrats to pass anything meaningful. And just to be clear, 50 votes to repeal Obamacare is not meaningful legislation. Still, while they have handcuffed Boehner from openly conducting business as usual, business nonetheless continues to move more or less as usual, meaning that those well connected get what they want while we just bitch about it. 

Bernie and Elizabeth Warren are exciting left of center choices, who I will admit have gotten my attention. They represent, to me, something distinctly different from Hillary, who I find to be running her campaign oddly like a Republican, circa anytime before the Trump offensive. I like what they are saying and while they may be just the start of something refreshing for those left of center, only time will tell if they can cause the kind of wedge the Teas are causing on the right. I'm not sure they will. But the Teas and a Sanders/Warren wing don't really offer a true third party choice. Instead, they are just more radical visions of what both parties used to be. As such, they are just mirror images of each other. They may offer some choice to voters who are committed to either party, but this means they are just diluting each base. 

A true third party, IMO, would have to be one that is truly in the center. Probably along the lines of that mythical voter who is fiscally conservative and socially moderate. That's well and good, and I'd support it, but I keep coming back to a particular sticking point, or several actually. The first is that if we are demanding a third party because we are so disgusted with the two we have, I contend that this implies we WANT our government to function. This means, to me, compromise and the reality that in true negotiations, nobody gets everything they want. A related point, that I always belabor, is that we get what we vote for. Half the people who could vote in general elections chose not to. Those that do go to the polls to vent their spleens only to go home and tune into whatever partisan they favor to listen to commentary on why their candidate won or lost. A third party in this backdrop doesn't seem feasible to me. Put another way, I think it's kind of a hope that those of us who are within arms distance on either side of center, can elect someone who will go and fix everything we don't like. 

Much as I like the idea of a quick a fix, I think we would all be much better served if every one of us went into our community and volunteered our time with someone less fortunate. At the least, this would certainly shape our thinking much better than linking into whatever truly partisan news source we favor. What would a good third party look like to you?