I have a couple of points, though, first this seems to want to perpetuate one of the issue it talks about, that Republicans are by nature duumb and Democrats are smart. He tries to soften it, but in the end the question he asks isn’t “Is George Bush really all that dumb?” but “OK, he’s dumb, Bur Does it Matter?”
The second issue is that how the perception that Democrats have of themselves being so much smarter is what ultimatley alienates them from many voters: the paternalistic “I am smart and know what’s best for all of us” attitude that, IMO, many Democrats seem to have.
This whole Bush is dumb thing seems to derive from arrogance. It seems that liberals think that those who disagree with them are either evil (Gingrich) or dumb (Bush). They seem unable to accept that good intelligent people can disagree on issues.
I am glad the debates have put this particular issue to an end so people can evaluate Bush on his positions and not on this myth.
Personally, I think intelligence is far from the most important quality to look for in a President. First, I care about the issues. As far as I can tell (from the poll at http://www.selectsmart.com ), I agree with Bush about 2/3 of the time, and Gore 1/10 of the time. Even if I believed that Bush is as dumb as people make him out to be, I’d vote for him over Gore without regard to intelligence. Of course, I’ll actually be voting for Harry Browne, since I agree with him far more than either of the other two.
The presidency is not an intellectual exercise. It requires a myriad of abilities and talents, of which a certain modicum of intelligence is definately one, but far from the predominant one. Gore supporters are certainly serving themselves by making intelligence into a major issue.
I want my President to be better at politics than I am.
I want my President to be better at diplomacy than I am.
I want my President to be more charismatic than I am.
And yes, I very much want my President to be smarter than I am.
I am not a Gore supporter. I will not be voting for him. Nevertheless, I think Dubya does not meet my above criteria. I’m not going to say that I think he’s dumber than a whole box of toast, mind you. After all, he managed to get Cs at Yale. But in my alleged “liberal arrogance” (ha!) I do not think he’s the sharpest hoe in the toolshed.
And if I might add, the silly stereotyping of the parties is getting really old. To say that Democrats are all paternalistic is about as accurate as saying “Republicans are all doodyheads.” Sheesh. :rolleyes:
Sure, someone has to be smart to be President. But there needs to be other aspects to their personality, as well… I mean, the Unabomber was “smart”, wasn’t he? He was supposedly a genius (despite his lack of Real Estate skills). But even so, I wouldn’t want him as our President.