The best thing about writing a blog is that people regularly point me to good information. Most recently, Bill Scher of LiberalOasis pointed me to his analysis of John Edwards' TV performance a week ago. Very nice comparison between Edwards and Dean. I don't know much about Dean, but the key for either candidate is the comparison against Bush. Edwards "wonky" proposals such as the refundable energy tax credit, 9 months of bonus depreciation, etc. seem well-thought out and can be comprehensible to the average voter.
I think that more important than most policy proposals, however, is the election style. Bush's very centralized, very on-message campaign worked well against Gore, who went through advisors more rapidly than I normally update my blog. This has become worse in the White House. A winning Democrat needs a freewheeling, grassroots campaign dependent on high technology.
To John Edwards: The young don't vote because they see no difference between the candidates. So give them one. Start a blog. Answer some email. Host weekly chats with key campaign staffers (and once in a while be there yourself). Form a grassroots policy organization and advocate a couple of small policies from citizens instead of lobbyists. Put a webcam in your bus. Promise to appoint a cabinet member under the age of 30. Tour the country with Eminem this summer. Run a paperless campaign.
Citizens decry the rise of form over substance in politics. But no national candidate has attempted a truly different campaign and political form. The minor differences in political priority and methodology of Bush and Gore were nearly submerged in personality and party. Instead of advocating policies, advocate a new system of creating policies. Use an online, web-based, citizen opinion system to set your campaign priorities. Don't be ruled by the mob, but don't force us mob members to use dysfunctional intermediaries like AARP to have any influence over the system. When I look at the policy organizations of major campaigns, I see a carefully exclusive cabal designed to maximize contributions and poll numbers. Risk everything by going directly to the people and listening. Deploy a Slashdot-style discussion system for your campaign proposals. Listen to those who achieve high Karma, rather than the political lifers beginning to wake from their between-campaign hibernation. Instead of paying $100,000 for a poll, hire college students for $500 and ten large pizzas.
If you play by the rules, you are unlikely to win. Too little experience. However, the experience gap allows you the freedom to imprint yourself as you wish, to redefine the future in terms of what you want the present to be. Just as Bill Clinton, was a youthful, charismatic outsider to George Bush, you can be a technology-savvy modern man of the people to Bush and his oligarchy.
10:14:56 PM 
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