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It is not a matter of forgetting where they came from, although that would eventually happen too. It is a matter of once they got there, they would want to stay there and that, by nature, means moving to the middle. Consider that for the most part 3rd parties in this country are all either right or left of the Dem/Rep parties, making them more partisan in nature. To stay in power, they would have to appeal to a wider group as the fringe might get them into power but could not keep them there.
An other thing to consider is that a 3rd party member has no real power once elected either. They have to throw in with either the Dem or Rep part to get any where in Congress. The whole of the current legislative process is set up to benefit the current TWO major parties and to work against independents or 3rd parties. That is really why there are only parties today. There have been times in history that there were more than two but they were very regional in nature. I very much doubt that we will ever see a truely successful nation 3rd party under the Federal system.
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However due to voting reform it could likely gradually become a 3/4 party system instead of representing a broad spectum of Americans as Rep/Dem do voters could choose a candidate that actually represented them more as an individual than a generlization. Having more viewpoints in the public eye also leads to the better handling of a situation as you have more ideas and communication flow, rather than the do the slight opposite of what they said mentality of the Rep/Dem party. Having 3/4 different parties in the House and Senate would be a more productive entity.