Exactly. We DO need a good conservative Republican to get started on making his name a household word. Otherwise, we risk the "Howard Dean" effect, to have someone go from zero to sixty in a very short time, then watch as the media makes the candidate fizzle out too quickly.
Yes, Howie shot himself in the foot too many times from our perspective, but his gaffes didn't bother Iowa Rat voters, something else did. The scream wasn't until AFTER Iowa caucus goers had met. My theory is that Dean attracted too much of the wrong media (intense examination of personal life) too soon, and that could happen to our candidate, too.
Dean lost the Iowa voters when he shouted down the old guy in the town meeting with comments to the effect of "George Bush is not my neighbor" among other things.