The github code repository... If the Classic hardfork were to succeed (not that that's gonna happen), Gavin/Toomin would have the greatest access to the proverbial "steering wheel".

The problem with the idea of 'creat[ing] a competing chain that becomes the "real" bitcoin' is that it would quite probably have a devastating effect on fungibility and thus trust in the system... thus "diverting the project toward a state of increased vulnerability/uncertainty". The altcoins and crypto 2.0 projects are competition... these attempted hardforks are subversion.

It's all about managing perception; they understand that it's decentralized and thus can't be controlled.