Nix those party labels?

[capriccio]

Following is an excerpt from Louis Menand's excellent piece in the current New Yorker, "The Unpolitical Animal" (sorry, no link), which examines how alien politics are to most people and what it takes to get through to them in an election.

"There is nothing in the Constitution requiring candidates to be listed on the ballot with their party affiliations, and, if you think about it, the custom of doing so is vaguely undemocratic. It makes elections a monolpoly of the major parties..."

What do you think, DUers? Is it time for a Constitutional challenge to the practice on principle? And would it make for a better or worse electorate?