Approval Strategy (was the Allure of IRV)

[DEMOREP1 at aol.com]

Alex wrote in part-

I concur in most cases.  However, sometimes there are true 3-way contests.

This doesn't happen much with plurality, but I suspect that implementing

Approval would lead to some strong third and fourth (and maybe more?)

options emerging.  In that case voting for your favorite of the front-

runners may not be best.  You may also want to vote for your second

favorite.


(A classic 3-way race was the 1998 gubernatorial race in Minnesota.

Ventura, the Dem, and Repubiican were all in the vicinity of 30%.)
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D- Ventura got elected to be the MN Governor with circa 37 percent of the 
votes -- a direct SUBVERSION of Democracy - aka majority rule.

Ventura then proceeded to act as if he had gotten about 90 percent of the 
votes-- classic power mania.

I  repeat something again --- The folks in the U.S.A. are NOT YET electing a 
King- Tyrant- Dictator to high executive offices (regardless of the desires 
of some folks on this list who would love *their* hero candidate to be so 
elected)

Most folks will be happy to have some *Compromise* person in offices like 
U.S.A. President, State Governor, big city Mayors, etc.    

Any polls asking the question -- do you want any leftwing or rightwing 
ultra-extremist to be elected U.S.A. President (using plurality or IRV) ???

The many decades of ANTI-Democracy rot since 1860 have produced an 
ultra-dangerous monarchy fixation (akin to the rot in the Roman Empire in its 
last 100 years) --- thus the various ravings about the folks with  a mania 
for Perot, Nader, etc. in many postings.

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