1. If something can be explained without the necessity of a designer, why is ID a better explanation?
Putting reality into a context.
Pure science (and I am speaking of more than evoloutionary theory) is the most effective tool humans have come up with for categorizing reality. Science is unmatched in the area of What, How, and Where. Some may argue with When, but at least science provides a coherent framework for that.
The problem, and I recognize that Science itself declines to ask the question, is that the Why is important to many people.
The willingness to grapple with the Why? many make ID "better' in the sight of some.
Fine. Most worthy. But religion already fulfills that function. The churches are flourishing, without pretending to be science, and without lobbying a bunch of witless school board twits into revising the curriculum.
So the question remains, what makes ID better?
What if there is no why, other than a natural cause?