# Is Sarah Palin dumber than Ronald Reagan? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 21, 2010, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-dumber-than-ronald-reagan/561453 "2010-11-21T17:10:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 16
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-dumber-than-ronald-reagan/561453/301 "2010-11-23T23:46:51Z")
It is true there are some people who using southern ,folksy mannerisms and will crush you if you cross them. Like LBJ they are really bright and have learned the craft of politician and can handle anybody. You could put LBJ up against a world leader in conference and feel secure. Palin has not uttered one statement of brilliance or understanding. Not one insight has escaped her lips. Who would not have a huge fear if she represented America at a Chinese talk? Who would feel confident with her an international financial conference? How well would her small town folksiness serve her in international treaties? ---
**Author:** ![conway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ec9cab/32.png) [@conway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/conway)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-dumber-than-ronald-reagan/561453/302 "2010-11-23T23:49:21Z")
Did someone in this thread actually use the word “lamestream”? ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-dumber-than-ronald-reagan/561453/303 "2010-11-24T00:08:30Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > But she was slammed and denigrated by the left from the moment she was announced as the VP candidate Actually, the moment she was announced as the VP candidate, most of us were saying “huh? Sarah who?” ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-dumber-than-ronald-reagan/561453/304 "2010-11-24T00:16:33Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > The Mondale quote is [here](http://www.pbs.org/newshour/debatingourdestiny/84debates/1prez1.html) - search the page for Will Rogers. You must be joking. Here is the passage you apparently take umbrage at: > [@](#): > > MONDALE: Well, I guess I’m reminded a little bit of what Will Rogers once said about Hoover. He said it’s not what he doesn’t know that bothers me, it’s what he knows for sure just ain’t so. How is this a reference to Reagan’s stupidity? ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-dumber-than-ronald-reagan/561453/305 "2010-11-24T00:16:57Z")
Once they figured out who she was the right and left slammed her. You would have to be really partisan not to wonder what the hell McCain was thinking. Across the globe the question was “who the hell is that”. Im sure CLOTHAHUMP thought the same thing. You would have to be from Alaska to know her. ---
**Author:** ![Meatros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Meatros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meatros)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-dumber-than-ronald-reagan/561453/306 "2010-11-24T00:20:27Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Well, you never heard them ask Obama that, did you, smartypants? You are completely correct. In fact, I hadn’t considered this before, but I’m sure that if Katie Couric interviewed me, she would no doubt expose my shortcomings as well - despite how stupid she is. I’m sure I would sit there looking like a deer in the headlights when she pitched me such a difficult curve ball as what magazines do I read… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-dumber-than-ronald-reagan/561453/307 "2010-11-24T00:22:25Z")
> [@conway](#): > > Did someone in this thread actually use the word “lamestream”? I caught that too. Being naive in matters political, I [looked](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamestream) it up. Our girl didn’t actually coin that term, did she? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Meatros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Meatros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meatros)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-dumber-than-ronald-reagan/561453/308 "2010-11-24T00:33:41Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > I caught that too. Being naive in matters political, I [looked](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamestream) it up. > Our girl didn’t actually coin that term, did she? 😛 Quick someone refudiate mangeorge! ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-dumber-than-ronald-reagan/561453/309 "2010-11-24T00:42:29Z")
> [@Meatros](#): > > Quick someone refudiate mangeorge! You could have just said “Heavens no”. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-dumber-than-ronald-reagan/561453/310 "2010-11-24T00:51:58Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > My feeling always is that if someone has a reputation before they were trust into a highly partisan situation and their reputation subsequently undergoes a radical change, the pre-partisan reputation is most likely the more accurate one. Actually, I had really high hopes for Palin early on, and I remember a pre-campaign photo of her (probably in _Time_ or _Newsweek_) that I was adorable - she was walking on a street in… Juneau, I guess, her head was down in concentration, she was dressed well and, yes, she’s attractive, and her older kids were trailing at intervals behind her like ducklings in her wake. For some reason, this image really impressed me, though in all honesty I’m not 100% sure it actually _was_ Palin. Anyway, my preconceptions about Palin were all positive. She shattered that when during the campaign I actually heard her talking. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-dumber-than-ronald-reagan/561453/311 "2010-11-24T01:03:38Z")
> [@Mosier](#): > > Actually, the moment she was announced as the VP candidate, most of us were saying “huh? Sarah who?” Even in Alaska, there was a stunned “whaaa?” We were on a trip across the Denali Highway and had no idea she had been selected until we popped out the other side and saw a newspaper. We were both in shock, but thought “well. . . . . .okay, I guess.” It was right about that same time that we were hearing murmurings from Juneau that all was not right with Palin and her cronies, and that she really had zero interest in hearing anybody’s opionions or in researching issues before making decisions on them. This was coming from both sides of the aisle in the legislature. Up until the Couric and “Charlie” interviews, I had assumed that she was at least as aware of national issues as I was, and probably more so, since the governor of a state as rich and as dependent on government largess as Alaska is should be fully aware of what’s what on the national scene. And if not as aware as she should be, that she had the smarts and drive to study up and learn policy and platform issues. Those two interviews left me with my jaw swinging in the breeze and a deep commitment to do whatever I could to prevent her from coming anywhere near the White House. We know now that she was completely disinterested in learning platform issues, preferring to snicker and mug for an audience that was as stupid and vapid as she was. The woman has no intellectual curiosity. Anybody can forgive ignorance as long as the ignorant have the means to better themselves and strive to do so. Palin is a shameful example of someone who just doesn’t give a shit about truth or fairness, who holds intellect and wisdom in contempt, and will say or do anything to make a buck. This is abundantly evident in her conduct while mayor and governor, during her role in the McCain campaign, and her brainless remarks since she lost and then quit. So spare me the “poor little hick who everybody picked on from the get-go” bullshit. She’s earned every bit of the criticism directed her way. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-dumber-than-ronald-reagan/561453/312 "2010-11-24T01:30:27Z")
> [@Fotheringay-Phipps](#): > > If you looked closely enough you would find these same types of issues regarding anyone, including but by no means limited to Obama. (Obama apparently thinks [Austrian is a language](http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/News-Conference-By-President-Obama-4-04-2009/), haha, what a dummy. It is a language. [cite](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austrian_German) It even has it’s own dictionary. [cite](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%96sterreichisches_W%C3%B6rterbuch) ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-dumber-than-ronald-reagan/561453/313 "2010-11-24T01:34:09Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > She’s earned every bit of the criticism directed her way. Hear hear! ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-dumber-than-ronald-reagan/561453/314 "2010-11-24T01:47:17Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > It is a language. [cite](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austrian_German) > > It even has it’s own dictionary. [cite](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%96sterreichisches_W%C3%B6rterbuch) Obama detrators need to give up trying to make him out to be a dummy. He’s not, and they themselves look silly in their efforts. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-dumber-than-ronald-reagan/561453/315 "2010-11-24T01:59:06Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > It is a language. [cite](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austrian_German) > > It even has it’s own dictionary. [cite](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%96sterreichisches_W%C3%B6rterbuch) [Duden](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duden), wo ist mein Auto? ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-dumber-than-ronald-reagan/561453/316 "2010-11-24T01:59:44Z")
> [@Fear Itself](#): > > MONDALE: Well, I guess I’m reminded a little bit of what Will Rogers once said about Hoover. He said it’s not what he doesn’t know that bothers me, it’s what he knows for sure just ain’t so. I’d be more inclined to think that Mondale stole that line from Reagan, [cite](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZO_WM1uZyZo), 'cause [according to **luci**](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=13169359&postcount=43) it was Mark Twain who first came up with that line, and **luci** , his other shortcomings notwithstanding, usually knows his Mark Twain. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![IdahoMauleMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/71c47a/32.png) [@IdahoMauleMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IdahoMauleMan)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-dumber-than-ronald-reagan/561453/317 "2010-11-24T02:03:49Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > Obama detrators need to give up trying to make him out to be a dummy. He’s not, and they themselves look silly in their efforts. Not saying he’s a dummy. Saying he’s a fairly typical, middle-of-the-road political hack. Just like Biden, and just like Palin. Only worse than most, because he’s a big-government socialist who doesn’t have a clue about how wealth and jobs are created, and how living standards improved for hard-working Americans. He has had plenty of gaffes, as people have noted above, that if were committed by Dan Quayle or Sarah Palin would elicit howls of laughter from the media and the left. As well as be repeated dozens of times ad nauseum. He probably hasn’t had any more, mind you. But they are there. I’m a bigger detractor of the people who say that he’s “brilliant” and “The Smartest President We’ve Ever Had.” To me, it seems like a pathetically obvious defense mechanism and act of self-validation. We voted for a black man. And a Democrat. That felt really good. It was the feel-good moment of the millenium, perhaps. It absolved us of all of our sins. But we can’t really say that, because it’s cringe-worthy. Even though we know it’s true, deep down inside. So instead, to validate ourselves and our choice, we’ll just keep repeating that he’s “brilliant”, and to further validate ourselves and force the gap wider between him and his competitors, we’ll call The Other Guys idiots. Yeah, that’s it. We voted for the brilliant guy and scorned the idiots. That’s why we did what we did. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-dumber-than-ronald-reagan/561453/318 "2010-11-24T02:11:21Z")
What then does “haha, what a dummy”, as posted by \*\* Fotheringay-Phipps\*\* mean? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-dumber-than-ronald-reagan/561453/319 "2010-11-24T02:27:37Z")
> [@IdahoMauleMan](#): > > I’m a bigger detractor of the people who say that he’s “brilliant” and “The Smartest President We’ve Ever Had.” And well you should since that title arguably belongs to Woodrow Wilson, but the rest of your criticism is stupid. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2010, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-dumber-than-ronald-reagan/561453/320 "2010-11-24T02:31:34Z")
Biden is far from a dummy. i have heard some long interviews with hand he can be very impressive. His occasional malaprops do not diminish his intelligence. I have never heard a bit if wit from Palin and never will.Unless you are dumb enough to think “Grizzly mom” is great wit.She hides from the press . She does not do a long interview and show her shallowness. I can not imagine the degree of mental tricks you have to be engaged in to think she brings anything to the table. I understand partisans but she is beyond credibility. She can not be defended. That is why some on this board pretend Biden and Obama are just as dumb as she. That is their only way to weasel out . it does not work and is not true. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-dumber-than-ronald-reagan/561453.md?page=15) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sarah-palin-dumber-than-ronald-reagan/561453.md?page=17)