Bubblegum
: Ed Cone, who wrote the definitive piece on Dean and the Internet, says after last night:
Another Internet bubble popped.
Thank God.
Nothing against Howard Dean — he has done the Dems a real service by firing people up, by pushing his opponents to get their acts together, and most of all by pioneering online campaigning. But you need more than tools to win.
You need a candidate, and a message. Dean’s message, perhaps unfairly, was perceived by many to be angry and limited. Edwards is optimistic, Kerry has gravitas. They both speak better in person and on TV than does the doctor.
You need TV and other mass media. One of the central fallacies of many Internet cultists is the either/or dichotomy — that blogs kill newspapers, Meetups replace TV, etc. This is a wakeup call from that dream.
Ed and I agree that this Internet thing has changed politics and will have a decisive impact on the election but it’s not the whole game and, in fact, it’s too soon to know what game it is.
