"You can't have buyer's remorse if you don't go shopping until the last minute on Christmas Eve....And especially if you decide to give them something you know they'll like, instead of something new."
Crossing The Chasm - review
If a successful entrepreneur learns any one thing, it is to keep trying to refine their product for the right target markets, yielding a "self-marketing" trend that outstrips competitors...
I would posit (in hindsight) a chain of events for Gov. Dean, something like:
- insurgent campaign reachs front-runner in an open market (first-mover advantage), with an early adopter product suite
- insurgent-leader marketing copied by market leaders("Bush as miserable failure"), eliminating "the message gap" while still selling same product
- insurgent-leader moves to pre-validate in overall marketplace through big customer deals (endorsements) without Early Majority product launched for Early Majority targets (IA - * see below)
- market leaders make it comfortable for customers to "come home" (keep negative off radar, drive negatives up for insurgent, etc.)
...occurred since last Fall....
I remember someone's diary today mentioning the Dean high point as just before Gore, when an extension to Early Majority product would have been best timed. I think that the launch was occurring, but got drowned out in the insane negatives, then echoed by the media. Taken off one's game, a half-hearted launch (I also remember Dean saying something to the effect, "It's hard to move to the center when you're getting hit from all sides") is never followed through....
So,...what next?
You re-package from your base for the Early Majority. The base is still with the Governor, the product is still stitting on the shelf, and the only question is how much time it takes to re-launch...
Detractors and followers-on can be re-captured. An entrepreneur doesn't quit and neither should we Dean Supporters....
* (Maybe IA is actually Late Majority, despite being early by date)