# Sununu: The President is "lazy" and "not that bright." Who believes this? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [October 4, 2012, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sununu-the-president-is-lazy-and-not-that-bright-who-believes-this/636728 "2012-10-04T18:33:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2012, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sununu-the-president-is-lazy-and-not-that-bright-who-believes-this/636728/1 "2012-10-04T18:33:50Z")
Said it on television, no less. Since I’ve seen this asserted by conservatives on this very board, I was wondering how widespread this belief is. I was also wondering as to its potential effect. There are certainly _lots_ of liberals who thought/think GWB was both lazy and not that bright (to say the least), but I don’t recall anyone from John Kerry or Al Gore’s campaign outright saying it that bluntly. Do they really think the President got to where he is through pure affirmative action, or are they just playing to a particular portion of their base? ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2012, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sununu-the-president-is-lazy-and-not-that-bright-who-believes-this/636728/2 "2012-10-04T18:48:43Z")
“Obama is lazy and not very smart…you know…black.” ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2012, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sununu-the-president-is-lazy-and-not-that-bright-who-believes-this/636728/3 "2012-10-04T18:50:38Z")
I don’t think he’s “not that bright”, but I think he’s a lot less intelligent than many of his supporters believe. What we saw last night is that Obama can memorize his lines well, he can speak in complete sentences, but he can’t respond to any questions or rebuttals that he hasn’t been prepared for ahead of time by his coaches. In other words, he’s probably at the median intelligence-wise for a politician. ---
**Author:** ![howye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9adbd/32.png) [@howye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/howye)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2012, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sununu-the-president-is-lazy-and-not-that-bright-who-believes-this/636728/4 "2012-10-04T18:50:44Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > “Obama is lazy and not very smart…you know…black.” BING. Got it one! Close the thread. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2012, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sununu-the-president-is-lazy-and-not-that-bright-who-believes-this/636728/5 "2012-10-04T18:53:07Z")
Yeah, of all the ham-handed ways to criticize President Obama, saying he’s lazy and stupid are about the ham-handiest. Say what you want about a post-racial society, words still do have a history. This is about one step away from saying he should just stick to playing basketball. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2012, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sununu-the-president-is-lazy-and-not-that-bright-who-believes-this/636728/6 "2012-10-04T18:55:50Z")
It’s a bizarre charge. Obama’s weakness is that he can be too intellectual and come off as nerdish. Sununu would have been better off accusing Obama of being an ivory-tower egghead. As for the appeal to racism, that’s just stupid. The Republicans have every reason to stay quiet on race. They’ve already got the racist vote locked up - the people that won’t vote for a black guy know who the black candidate is. But by pointing it out, the Republicans risk an anti-racist backlash of people voting for Obama to distance themselves from accusations of racism. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2012, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sununu-the-president-is-lazy-and-not-that-bright-who-believes-this/636728/7 "2012-10-04T18:56:37Z")
As long as W. is the yardstick of Presidential brilliance and intelligence, I’m going to be comfortable with any drooling, gibbering idiot put forth as his clear superior. ---
**Author:** ![Mrs.Cake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2acd7d/32.png) [@Mrs.Cake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrs.Cake)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2012, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sununu-the-president-is-lazy-and-not-that-bright-who-believes-this/636728/8 "2012-10-04T19:05:05Z")
Did he add “but he sure can dance”? ---
**Author:** ![BigAppleBucky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigapplebucky/32/178_2.png) [@BigAppleBucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigAppleBucky)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2012, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sununu-the-president-is-lazy-and-not-that-bright-who-believes-this/636728/9 "2012-10-04T19:18:43Z")
> [@Mrs.Cake](#): > > Did he add “but he sure can dance”? I think he mentioned something about playing basketball. (Or was that Newt?) ---
**Author:** ![picker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/picker/32/13969_2.png) [@picker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picker)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2012, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sununu-the-president-is-lazy-and-not-that-bright-who-believes-this/636728/10 "2012-10-04T19:32:17Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > I don’t think he’s “not that bright”, but I think he’s a lot less intelligent than many of his supporters believe. > > What we saw last night is that Obama can memorize his lines well, he can speak in complete sentences, but he can’t respond to any questions or rebuttals that he hasn’t been prepared for ahead of time by his coaches. In other words, he’s probably at the median intelligence-wise for a politician. Oh no! A egocentric bigot thinks the Black Guy (quick Cletus, hide your wimmenfolk) who was President of the Harvard Law Review isn’t very smart. We’re doomed. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2012, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sununu-the-president-is-lazy-and-not-that-bright-who-believes-this/636728/11 "2012-10-04T19:34:54Z")
> [@BigAppleBucky](#): > > I think he mentioned something about playing basketball. (Or was that Newt?) Great sense of rhythm. Loves watermelon. ---
**Author:** ![MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPB_in_Salt_Lake)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2012, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sununu-the-president-is-lazy-and-not-that-bright-who-believes-this/636728/12 "2012-10-04T19:39:23Z")
As someone who voted for Obama in 2008 and thinks he has been an overall huge disappointment as President (but will be reluctantly voting for him again, as Mitt Romney would be a disaster of epic proportions for America) I don’t think it’s fair to call Barack Obama either “lazy” or “not that bright” but I would say that words like smug and arrogant seem pretty accurate to me… Of course Obama’s level of arrogance, (which is obviously something 99% of all politicians have to some degree) is not even in the same stratosphere as Romney’s is; Mitt Romney may currently be the singlemost self-satisfied, completely out-of-touch, aloof, smarmy jackass in all of big-time American politics now that John Edwards has retired. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2012, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sununu-the-president-is-lazy-and-not-that-bright-who-believes-this/636728/13 "2012-10-04T19:50:00Z")
The type of investments and size of investments he made into green energy would lead any sane person to question his logic. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2012, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sununu-the-president-is-lazy-and-not-that-bright-who-believes-this/636728/14 "2012-10-04T19:58:24Z")
**Deep Throat** > [@](#): > > Look, forget the myths the media’s created about the White House-- the truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2012, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sununu-the-president-is-lazy-and-not-that-bright-who-believes-this/636728/15 "2012-10-04T19:59:44Z")
> [@badger5149](#): > > The type of investments and size of investments he made into green energy would lead any sane person to question his logic. Which is certainly not the same as saying he’s lazy and stupid… ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2012, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sununu-the-president-is-lazy-and-not-that-bright-who-believes-this/636728/16 "2012-10-04T20:19:20Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > The Republicans have every reason to stay quiet on race. They’ve already got the racist vote locked up - the people that won’t vote for a black guy know who the black candidate is. But by pointing it out, the Republicans risk an anti-racist backlash of people voting for Obama to distance themselves from accusations of racism. Somebody should explain that to Sean Hannity and George Will, both of whom have done some really ugly race-baiting this week. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2012, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sununu-the-president-is-lazy-and-not-that-bright-who-believes-this/636728/17 "2012-10-04T20:33:41Z")
> [@MPB\_in\_Salt\_Lake](#): > > Mitt Romney may currently be the singlemost self-satisfied, completely out-of-touch, aloof, smarmy jackass in all of big-time American politics now that John Edwards has retired. Hey, that’s not fair to Edwards! I’ll go along with ‘smarmy,’ ‘self-satisfied,’ and ‘jackass,’ but he’s hardly aloof (in fact, had quite the opposite problem), and despite the smarminess, he seemed to have a pretty good read on the difficulties faced by Americans who were in far less pleasant straits than he was. So he wasn’t exactly out of touch. IOW, Romney completely outdoes Edwards in this department. I fully expect pond scum to join together for a brief moment of sentience just to say that comparing Romney with them is an unfair slam on them. ---
**Author:** ![Zeriel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/58956e/32.png) [@Zeriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeriel)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2012, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sununu-the-president-is-lazy-and-not-that-bright-who-believes-this/636728/18 "2012-10-04T20:36:02Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > As long as W. is the yardstick of Presidential brilliance and intelligence, I’m going to be comfortable with any drooling, gibbering idiot put forth as his clear superior. This dovetails neatly with my theory, which is that post-Reagan pseudo-conservative Tea-Party-loving Republicans tend to follow the Rovian strategy of “accuse your opponent of your own greatest weaknesses”. Since Mitt Romney couldn’t generate a new thought if you wound his key to the stops… ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2012, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sununu-the-president-is-lazy-and-not-that-bright-who-believes-this/636728/19 "2012-10-04T20:39:32Z")
Obama is far from stupid. His problem is a deeply ingrained socialist (small “s”) ideology. He cannot entertain that a good solution to a problem exists that falls outside his word view. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2012, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sununu-the-president-is-lazy-and-not-that-bright-who-believes-this/636728/20 "2012-10-04T20:58:16Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > “Obama is lazy and not very smart…you know…black.” I’m surprised he didn’t say he was “shiftless”, with “low animal cunning.” :rolleyes: [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sununu-the-president-is-lazy-and-not-that-bright-who-believes-this/636728.md?page=2)