This is something that I think works better in the American voting system than the Australian one. The voices of people outside of the mainstream views seem more powerful.

In the US if the election is close you have to win votes off people who may otherwise not vote at all or potentially vote for a third party.

In Australia politicians do not need to seek the vote of people on the fringe as everyone is required to vote and due to our preferencial voting system we are all forced to vote for a major party at some point on the ballot.