[EM] remember Toby Nixon?

[matt welland]

On Thu, 2011-05-26 at 01:07 +0000, fsimmons at pcc.edu wrote:
> matt welland wrote ...
> 
> > The only strategy in
> > approval is to hold your nose and check off the front runner you 
> > despise because you don't want the other front runner you despise 
> > more to win.
> 
> The main problem is determining (through the disinformation noise) who the front runners really are. 
> Suppose the zero-information front runners to be candidates A and B, but that the media created front 
> runners are C and D.  If everybody votes for one of these two falsely advertised front runners, then they 
> become the front runners, but only through self fulfilling prophecy.
> 
> When unbiased polls are not drowned out by the big money, this is no problem.  But after the Citizens 
> United decision, we have to assume that disinformation is the rule, not the exception.

For me it seems we are so far from a point were discerning the front
runner is anything but blindingly obvious (at least in the US) that it
is a complete non-issue. Did any of the alternative candidates get into
the two digit range in 2008? The third party candidates are so
irrelevant that after a couple searches I still hadn't found a link that
mentioned the percentage results to put in this post. I would be
thrilled if when voting I even *considered* dropping my vote for the
lesser horror front runner in an approval vote.

These concerns are like bikeshedding, we are arguing about the paint
color and we don't even have a roof, walls or foundation, hell, we don't
even agree on the plans.

That doesn't mean the debate on this list is not important, it is very
important, but I come full circle to my post from a while back. When the
knowledgeable experts can't put out a unified front there will be no
moving forward.

Sorry, it's hard to watch a country which had so much potential to make
the human condition better for people all around the world, turn a bit
uglier, meaner and, yup, more fascist every day. I suspect that the only
thing that can turn this around in a sustainable way is a change in the
voting system but without a crystal clear rallying cry from the experts
for *ONE* method that will never happen.

Truth is that the goals of this list are at odds with my primary
interest. After reading any replies to this I'll sign off the list.

Cheers and thanks to all for the great work done in furthering the art
and science of choosing our leaders!

Matt
-=-
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