Based on his father, I’d have to say he’s stupid.
He seems a lot less of a leader than, say, Reagan, who was no great thinker, either, but at least he always had plans that sounded workable when he told them.
IMO, he’s smarter the “average” person, including me. But, he is going to be President. Don’t you think we should have an intelligent person running the country? Someone we don’t have to wonder about. To think that the most powerful man in the world would want anyone to think he’s dumb is sad and frightening.
How is it sad and frightening?
Intelligence is not what a president needs. Leadership skills are what a president needs. Intelligence is very secondary to charisma.
Ive seen no one winning an arguement though as no one can describe “intelligence”. Someone describe a way for intelligence to be measured and we could argue meaningfully.
I’m in awe at not seeing any posts speaking of how little the president actually does. The president DOESN’T vote bills through or even put a bill into Congress. The only thing that the President does do, when bills and laws are concerned, is SUGGEST and VETO. The SUGGESTIONS will be made by his cabinet members and his VETOS will be based on party lines. I’m sure that W. can be trained, eventually, to look like a genius during his meetings with dictators. The second debate gives merit to that argument.
They were both pawns anyways.
I voted for Nader!
I wasn’t going to vote for Gore either way.
And to rip off Dennis Miller and his army of writers
“That’s just my opinion. I could be wrong.”
I don’t care if he is smart or not. There are many ways to define intelligence. But to think the leader of the free world might be “acting” dumb is frightening. Why would anyone in that position want that. If it’s to fool people, he has to pull off that “trick” each time something occurs. If he fouls up ONCE, (“acting” dumb) he will have a cry wolf situation on his hands. The next time he appears dumb, people are going to think he is. Then he’ll be the dumb guy pretending to be dumb.
Yes, I would love it if William Jefferson Clinton could run for another term, too.
As a product of an Ivy League education, I feel compelled to refute this little bit of ignorance.
Ivy League schools must vindicate their selectivity. In order to maintain their credibility, they must adhere to the following principles:
[ul]
[li]Smart students go to Ivy League schools.[/li][li]Smart students do well in school, especially when challenged.[/li][li]Smart students stay in school, and neither drop out nor transfer.[/li][/ul]
At any Ivy nowadays, the lowest grade an ordinary, partying, slacking student will receive is a B-. In George W Bush’s day, slackers typically earned the “gentleman’s C.” Now, due to the phenomenon of grade inflation, the term is “gentleman’s B-.” The Ivies must award diplomas to virtually all of their students and encourage them to graduate in four years. George W Bush was no exception. To achieve a C average in an institution where most students graduate with honors is a dubious accomplishment.
Was this the offense for which he lost his driving priveleges in Maine and paid a cash fine? Yeah, how weaselly.
Has anyone ever corroborated this allegation?
pldennison, what you want facts?
As various posters have mentioned, the President gets lots of help in doing his (or her) job - Cabinet Secretaries, Exective Staff, Advisory Committees, etc. Raw intelligence is not a key requirement IMO, but the capabilities to present yourself well, to engage people, to motivate, to lead are. In other words, “looking presidential” is a critical ability. Reagan may not have been the smartest guy, but he had the gravitas, the sharp wit, the engaging manner that allowed him to act presidential. On the other hand, consider the following comments from the current President-elect:
“Let me put it to you this way, I am not a revengeful person.”-- Interview with Time magazine in the Dec. 25, 2000, issue.
“It’s such a huge honor to come as the president-elect. I don’t think I’ll really, fully realize the impact until I swear in.” - Tuesday, December 19, 2000 while meeting in the Oval Office with President Clinton.
“I am mindful of the difference between the executive branch and the legislative branch. I assured all four of these leaders that I know the difference, and that difference is they pass the laws and I execute them.”—Washington, D.C., Dec. 18, 2000
“I knew it might put him in an awkward position that we had a discussion before finality has finally happened in this presidential race.” - Describing a phone call to Sen. John Breaux. Crawford, Texas, Dec. 2, 2000
“The legislature’s job is to write law. It’s the executive branch’s job to interpret law.”—Austin, Texas, Nov. 22, 2000
“They misunderestimated me.”—Bentonville, Ark., Nov. 6, 2000
“Our priorities is our faith.”—Greensboro, N.C., Oct. 10, 2000
“I will have a foreign-handed foreign policy.”—Redwood, Calif., Sept. 27, 2000
and an early one:
“The only thing I know about Slovakia is what I learned first-hand from your foreign minister, who came to Texas.”—To a Slovak journalist as quoted by Knight Ridder News Service, June 22, 1999. (Bush’s meeting was with Janez Drnovsek, the prime minister of Slovenia.)
Forrest Gump for President!
I know I’m being crazy, but when it comes time to electing the Leader of the Free World and the Man Whose Finger Is On The Button, I’d sleep a lot easier knowing that the guy knows what’s going on and has mastery of the situation – instead of some crack-snorting frat boy whose philosophy of life is to let Daddy take care of things for him. But hey, I’m not a conservative Supreme Court justice…
I haven’t been posting on these political threads too much mostly because there is so much of it. I am a bit saturated with Bush/Gore debate. So, I haven’t read much of this thread either but decided to stick some comments of my own here on the off chance that some of you more persistent types will be interested. I’ll try to maintain enough curiousity to check back and see if anyone responds.
I am a Democrat. I voted for Gore. I don’t think Bush is stupid. Actually, I think he spoiled, but only a bit by his family and mostly by his own talents. You see, I think he is a lot like me. I cruised through school. I was reading C.S. Lewis before 1st grade and was always way ahead of my peers in all my subjects. Now, I make the same kind of sloppy mistakes that Bush does, both grammatical and factual. It’s because I fail to prepare sufficiently for tests. I know I can always get by or if things go bad I can always crunch down and make up for it later. I think Bush is like that. I think he’s VERY smart, but doesn’t exert himself very often. I think he has very little work ethic.
These are not the things that made me vote against him. It was the issues. I like that the rich carry the bulk of the tax load and I’d like to keep it that way. I’ve been getting richer myself lately, as has the rest of my family, and I don’t mind paying the extra. It’s nice that I can. I think that any tax surplus should be spent on reducing the debt. When there is no more debt, then we can examine the issue of reducing taxes. Our current tax system is tolerable. I’d like to increase Federal spending on education, arts, and fisheries and wildlife. I am pro-choice. Etc. etc.
I think that Bush will continue to skate through instead of giving his all to his job. He’ll probably still do a pretty good job because he is very talented. But, I disagree with him about so many things, I would actually prefer he were ineffectual. There is a good chance that he will be fairly powerless because of the was Congress and the House are right now. Fine.
Mostly, I’d like to point out that knowledge and intelligence are not the same. Bush may be somewhat ignorant, but he’s not stupid. Gore, I think, is also fairly intelligent, a bit less ignorant, and much less charming, but his politics are more similar to my own. So, Gore got my vote.
Wow, a VileOrb post to which I can agree unequivocably! I jump at the chance to say “Amen” – it may never happen again.
Gee, I am against capital punishment, and I really dislike Bush, but if he’s going to execute Congress…
At least with the old dummy Bush we won’t have to ponder ‘what is is’ and if oral sex is sex.
There was only one junior in this campaign, Al Gore. Al Gore’s father was much more powerful than Bush’s father and grandfather when gore/bush were growing up.
I’m sorry but they don’t hand out Bachelor degrees from Yale and MBA’s from Harvard just because you are rich.
The President doesn’t have to be the smartest person. Do you think Bill Gates is the best programmer at Microsoft? Being President requires surrounding yourself with the brightest people and being able to make quick sound decisions. It’s about delegating and being able to absorb information. Those qualities don’t come across in 20 second sound bites that you see on MTV.
So what if he doesn’t read poetry. Is that going to help him run the country. I get the feeling all this hell being raised is just jealous liberal arts majors who can’t find a decent job and are jealous that this guy who didn’t bother learning what they think is important is going to be President.
Bush was drafted by the other governors to be the front runner almost instantly after the 1996 election. There were plenty of other candidates. They saw something in him.
What you see on TV isn’t reality.
Yeah, that was sooo painful. Do you need to be reminded that that whole mess started out as a Republican witch hunt over real estate.
I don’t think anyone (that is not biased) would compare Bush to Gates.
I don’t consider reading poetry a prerequisite for becoming President. I do think that the President (or canidate) should be a little more aware of what he’s going to have to deal with. And like I’ve said before, Bush was terribly unsuccessful with pretty much everything he did before he ran for Governor.
I wonder if name recognition had anything to do with that.
This is always the case, right? Unless it’s Al Gore that you’re seeing of course, then it is real, and he is a robot.
I never said Gore was a robot. What I did see throughout his years in the Senate is a guy who wasn’t looked too favorably on by his colleagues. I saw a guy who based his vote on the Persian Gulf war on which side would give him the most prime time speaking on the Senate Floor. I saw the guy who first brought out the Willie Horton thing in the primaries in 1988 and many dems never forgave him for that. He only got the nomination because he was the Veep. He burned many bridges in 1988.
Bush’s name recognition isn’t the reason he was considered the favorite. In case you forgot, his dad lost the election in 1992 after going back on his tax promise and after having an approval rating in the 90s. The Senior Bush wasn’t that popular in his party after that. They thought he ran a poor campaign and was ineffective in conveying leadership. If this were Michael Reagan getting the nomination then I’d agree with you. But in 1996 and 1997, the name Bush didn’t mean a whole lot in the Republican party.
Ann Richards can talk about how dumb he is but she’s the one who lost to him. What does that say about her?
Yeah, instead we’ve already got dodges on whether being age 35 is “youthful” or not, and whether “I can pass an FBI background check” indicates a past history of cocaine use. And that’s even before Dubya is sworn into office.
I always find something beautiful about such innocent naivete…
Um, you do know that Microsoft has been busted six ways to Sunday for flagrant violation of antitrust laws, right? And Mr. Gates has been caught on the record disputing what the meaning of “is” is, too.
(Though if you had to pit the two against each other, Gates would shred Dubya in an eyeblink)
Yeah, us dopey Gore voters actually wanted a President wou could [find foreign countries on a map, and who works more than four hours a day (no, George, two-hour lunches and four-hour golfing breaks don’t count).
That I agree with – “He’s a total moron! We can do anything we want and he won’t have a clue!”
Remember, Girls, Keep The Gates Closed On Your Bush!!
Oh sorry- I thought I was still in the abstinence thread. JDM