Your second paragraph is closer, though in fact most people don't think about it at that level. They typically don't know or understand that the position is rel

Your second paragraph is closer, though in fact most people don't think about it at that level. They typically don't know or understand that the position is relative to the current distribution. When they say "democrats are on the left" they mean it in an absolute sense, and both the duopoly parties play that ambiguity up to their collective advantage. The kind of voting system proposed isn't likely to change that.