With Dean's third place finish in Iowa many pundits have written off the Dean campaign's prospects. Unwarranted or not, the speech he made after Iowa just confirmed their belief. You can view it
here and decide if their views are warranted.
I viewed it and had the same reaction as monad did in her dairy post, THAT was "the speech"? huh?. I agree a bit a graciousness at the beginning to the other candidates would have been welcome, but it was nice to see a politician with passion. I admit I am not the average voter though. For those with a sense of humor here is the dance remix of that speech.
In addition many pundits have also started to downgrade his internet efforts by commenting that they were no more than a campaign version of pets.com. A more balanced analysis in this Salon article summarizes Dean's internet strategy and its limitations.
The internet provided a way for Dean to organize and fundraise with the small amount of funds he had at a time. It now provides a strong foundation for his other efforts. It, however, has limitations. It cannot correct for Dean's gaffes or his volunteers cluelessness at the caucus. The internet is a tool and only a tool. The rest of the campaign still needs to be competent.
As a committed ABB, I want all the candidates at their best. Dean has already given the field spine transplants. Hopefully, the additional drama goes toward electing the strongest candidate to beat Bush in '04.