[EM] Fwd: Is Condorcet The Turkey?

[Bart Ingles]

Bart Ingles wrote:
> 
> [...] but what Runoff and Instant Runoff
> supporters don't seem to grasp is that those systems also reinforce the
> two-party system.

I didn't mean for this to sound condescending-- it took me a couple of
years for this to sink in as well.  And maybe Irving supporters do grasp
this-- after all, even Plurality seems to avoid the kind of "turkey
problem" being attributed to Condorcet methods.  If you are a commited
Demopublican, Irving does a good job of keeping those annoying third
parties from influencing elections.

But there are many who believe that the two big parties are the real
turkeys, engaging in a sort of perpetual mock-battle for swing voters.  
In effect, one or the other is almost always the Condorcet winner in a
restricted field of candidates.  Eliminating third-party candidates via
runoff rounds might make the outcome of the mock battle slightly more
accurate (in favor of the biggest "turkey"), it but wouldn't change the
contestants.