The problem is, Kickstarter is the sole arbiter of what gets presented to funders, and subsequently designed and developed.
Many a good idea have been rejected by their less-than-knowledgeable staff in their apparent attempt to unilaterally decide what is "cool" and what is not.
I agree, but this is a necessary drawback in my opinion. Kickstarter has a good reputation in terms of the quality of the projects and this is mainly due to the review process. As you say, the downside is that some projects don't make it in spite of their potential.
The same is true for Apple's App Store. Their review process has received a lot of criticism, but the advantage of Apple's filtering process has proven itself when compared to the Android Marketplace.
Many a good idea have been rejected by their less-than-knowledgeable staff in their apparent attempt to unilaterally decide what is "cool" and what is not.