What would it take for a third party either Anerican independent party or Ross Perrot reform party becoming a major political party in America?
Electoral fusion remaining the rule could have an effect on that earlier on - I think the Supreme Court came quite close to ruling banning it unconstitutional in the 90s as well.I think the temptation to be a wing of the big two you're closest to is always going to be there. It gives you much more power to choose the president and the primary system means you can still dominate local politics at the exclusion of other party groupings.
A position in between them is unlikely to remain steady, as outreach efforts are likely to succeed more on one side than another at some point.
So you'd need a reason not to link up with the big two. Which mean that Reform might do better than the AIP despite their dispersion making any local win very unlikely... Simply because the anti establishment stance is part of the selling point.
Electoral fusion remaining the rule could have an effect on that earlier on - I think the Supreme Court came quite close to ruling banning it unconstitutional in the 90s as well.
Then again, it hasn't had that much impact in the states that still have it.