Here are a couple of more commandments for Dems in '08:
11. Don't run on the 'Poor Unfortunates' platform. Don't punctuate speeches with sad anecdotes about people who got shafted. Don't be the party of left handed people with acne. Do become the party of main stream Americans.
12. Don't sacrifice core values. Don't throw anyone under the bus. Winning with a Lieberman (or a Bayh, who is a marginally milder case of Lieberman) is not winning.
and finally...
13. Show your flag. Make patriotism a progressive virtue instead of a right wing vice. In the (approximate) words of General Clark, '....never, never, never let anyone take that flag away from you.'
PS 'Competence' is boring. Mike Dukakis found that out big time.