I think "begging the question" describes your answer, in the classical sense of "assuming what you need to prove."

You are assuming that a multi-party, multi-candidate election is a desirable norm. But that needs to be proven by you, not assumed.

In a pre-RCV system, the parties would choose their candidates, however they do it, and then the general election would pit one candidate of each party against each other, plus whatever other parties qualify for the ballot. The public has not accepted that that must be eliminated. It did make things hard for third parties, but so it goes. Prove that that's a bad thing.