It's the Incompetence, Stupid

This piece is refreshing, because it is written by someone (James Verini) who was in the trenches at the Kerry campaign. He makes a good argument for incompetence, but also talks a fair amount about the campaign being uninspired. Verini mentions several times that volunteers didn't know - or care - what Kerry stood for, they just wanted to defeat Bush. Thus, the author saw no pictures of Kerry or Edwards at campaign offices, and volunteers couldn't answer voters' questions. The Democrats have to ask why that was, and try not to make the same mistake again. We Democrats were so attracted to Dean at first, since he seemed to have the guts to say what needed to be said - that with all their talk about values, what the Bush administration has been actually doing runs counter to many of the values this country holds sacred. Yet, when Dean seemed to be not ready for prime time, we flocked to Kerry because he seemed "safe." In short, I believe the problem was as much the candidate as the incompetence of the campaign.

Obviously, this article points to the importance of synergy. The best website in the world, and the best computer targeting, has to coordinate with the ground campaign.