The need for more parties goes hand in hand with the need for STAR voting

Check out STAR Voting. It is range voting with a runoff step to avoid bullet voting

SimpleX looks intriguing

I think it's a losing message to campaign on "everything is fine" when the vast majority of Americans are struggling.

Breaking Points covered this article and highlights that the current expectation is to simply say "we're better than trump". I don't think this is very effective and believe that only an economic message can sway voters.