How are we defining "competent?"
I was paying more attention to his positions and policies. I am well aware that he did not have the army of multi-state shock troops, organizers, opposition researchers, press sycophants, and the political goon squads apparently required nowadays to run for President.
No doubt if he had been preparing for this for years like the others had, it would have gone better. He entered the race because he thought the country needed his ideas. Naive, perhaps.
Like someone said today, if he can't be Reagan, maybe he can still be Goldwater. I like to think the Republican Party still has room for someone with Republican principles.