ALEX BEAM (best remembered in the blogosphere for not figuring out that Bjorn Staerk’s Stalinist April Fool page was an April Fool page) now says that the defeat of Howard Dean, the blogosphere’s “own presidential candidate,” means that the blogosphere is a bunch of hooey. Whatever, Alex.

He’s right, of course, that the Internet probably won’t decide this election. As I said back at Bloggercon, blogs are great for primaries because they can mobilize the committed and generate buzz. I don’t think they have the reach — especially to the barely-interested swing voters — to be decisive in a general election.