I agree, Meredith is playing with fire and basically doing what vampires do with compulsion. She is taking away the free will from the people she wants to help. I think Meredith and Elena have this in common. When it comes to help people, they are willing not to let them decide. Anyway I think the writers have a good character to work with and I hope they don't waste this potential.

re Matt:
I love his evolution this season. His presence keeps everyone grounded. I think he is the best friend someone can ask for. He's always there, for ecah one of them.

He was also the one who confronted Stefan about letting Elena make rash decisions with life altering consequences after having a head injury no less (LOVE LOVE LOVE that Damon was the one who remembered and pointed it out during the conference call) and that alone makes me want to kiss Matt.
THIS! Common sense it's not of everone in MF, but Matt surely knows what it is :)
It was so stupid to make a deal with the Originals, one way or another someone is going to die..and this time it was Elena...

Personally, I think they feel that if Elena has to be with one of the Salvatore brothers, they prefer Damon.
I agree. Matt and Jeremy may like to have Elena with a normal guy, but since they know her and that she is in love with a vampire, they'd go for Damon because they trust him more.
They know Damon would protect Elena no matter what...they both saw Stefan gave up on Elena just because he wanted his revenge on Klaus.