Minor party debate
Tried listening to the C-Span 'debate' of four minor parties. Got annoyed immediately at the unprofessional atmosphere. Audience was allowed to hoot and holler, and the candidates didn't know how to use a microphone without popping P's. Still, I suffered through the first question about introducing a Top Two primary system. Three of the candidates were against it; Gary Johnson said that it was okay for states but shouldn't be forced at the national level.

All wrong. Uninformed. I suspect there are options that might be even better, but the Top Two is a distinct improvement over traditional primaries. I looked at it closely back in '08 when it was first introduced here in Wash:

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Consider: the usual general election ballot looks like this.....

O Morgan J. Richboy [Republican]
O Stan Szwarczkowski [Democrat]
O Rainbowchild Riverwind [Green]
O Mary Jane Blunt [Libertarian]

The average voter is accustomed to looking at the first two and skipping the rest.

But now the general ballot in some districts will look like this:

O Morgan J. Richboy [Republican]
O Mary Jane Blunt [Libertarian]

The minor party will be one of the two available choices. Thus, if your only motivation is to vote against the R, you'll have to vote for the L.

Must admit I didn't realize this possibility in advance, and it appears that the Libertarian party didn't anticipate it either, since they had joined the big parties in trying to overturn the new format. It will certainly help them!

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One of these debaters said "And the Top Two can end up giving you a choice between two Republicans or two Democrats. That's no choice at all!"

Exactly not. The real variety happens within each party. The two parties agree on all important points. They differ only on verbiage. (For instance, "act of terror" versus "terrorist act".) If you want an actual choice on one of the important points like free trade or immigration or environment, you're going to find it between two Rs or between two Ds.

In a state or district with only one serious party, the standard system places the meaningful choice in the primary. Members of the serious party make the real decision. The 'ordinary voter' gets to see only one meaningful candidate. (The non-serious party will generally run an unknown hack who doesn't even bother to campaign.) Under Top Two the real choice ends up on the general ballot when most people are voting. Thus the 'ordinary' voter gets to see a real choice between two candidates who are seriously competing.
  ¶ 5:21 PM