I'm new to the forums, but I've played quite a bit of fighting games in my lifetime and have a pretty good grasp of the competitive fighting scene.
What I propose is that Melee and Brawl can coexist - for the moment. Really, whatever game is better competitively will be proven by the test of time. Both will stick around, I bet.
Take, for example, the Street Fighter Alpha series. Alpha 2, nowadays, was considered the pinnacle of competitive SFA play. When SFA3 came out, many were disheartened by the different -ism modes that straightjacketed the player to specific strategies. V-ism (custom combos and whatnot) became dominant for most characters, and while A-ism was good for a select few, X-ism was completely worthless (except for people playing alternate strats, like X-ism Boxer).
Did the Street Fighter community abandon Alpha 3, even after multiple infinite combos were discovered? No, they didn't. They kept on playing, finding even more and more strategies to add to their game, tiers moved up and and down and life went on. SFA2 eventually phased out of the tournament scene as well.
I have a feeling the situtation will be different with SFIII: TS and SFIV. Every competitive fighting game fan has heard of Third Strike in some manner - it's still played, even though certain characters have remained dominant over its 9 year lifespan. Much like with SSF2T, it'll probably stay around.
At least for me, the same thing could happen with Melee, it might not. The huge influx of players, of course, might be a determining factor in which game will win, but I don't believe Melee will be phased out entirely if it proves its mettle as a classic fighter like TS. If enough people stick to Melee (or, in fact, these people decide to play both), it'll survive and thrive. Choose one or the other; if you like one, play that one, and enjoy it for what it is. There's no need to disparage one another based on your preconcieved notions of how Smash Bros.
should be played. Nintendo changed the game up on everyone, and everyone's a little fussy in the transition period, but I imagine that Melee and Brawl will probably both be around for a long time (even if Brawl's ends up being primarily from its popularity). If Melee laster 7 years or so, is it unlikely that it will last longer?
Alot of this has to do with how the tournament organizers view the Smash Bros. games as well, which may make Melee a little less likely to stick around. However, if the players petition, their work won't go unrewarded.
This is a really long way of saying, play whatever one you want; debating the relative merits of "skill" at this point justs alienates people into completely fabricated opposing sides over a video game about a plumber beating up a guy who pulls plants out of the ground and throws them at people. Have a little good humor - the game's not all that serious, and competiton is fun, not ingratiating.
EDIT: One other thing...for those who complain about "balance" in fighting games:
http://insomnia.ac/commentary/domination_101/prelude_to_a_diss/