Agreed, the method you describe makes much more sense by slowly creating some sort of chain interoperability bridge instead of attempting to migrate to a new chain. Knowing Steem's HF history there seems to be ample opportunity for an epic clusterfuck.
Token swap? Is that even necessary?
You bring up important points about the witnesses... I guess we'll see over the next few days.

I wonder how much of a factor the Voice launch played in this decision.