# The gateway idiot? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [December 9, 2025, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gateway-idiot/1025557 "2025-12-09T15:48:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2025, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gateway-idiot/1025557/1 "2025-12-09T15:48:55Z")
Was Sarah Palin the gateway idiot that lowered the political bar enough to let Trump ooze over? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2025, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gateway-idiot/1025557/2 "2025-12-09T15:53:07Z")
Why not W. himself? Maybe not an idiot, but much lower intelligence than expected of a President. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2025, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gateway-idiot/1025557/3 "2025-12-09T15:53:19Z")
I would say no because their ticket failed to win the election.. ---
**Author:** ![Tatterdemalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/43a26b/32.png) [@Tatterdemalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tatterdemalion)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2025, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gateway-idiot/1025557/4 "2025-12-09T15:56:26Z")
I think that Nixon, Reagan, and Gingrich all were major contributors to the current state of the Republican party. Palin was a non-entity by comparison. They did more to wreck the financial status of the government with their tax policies, and make cooperation impossible with their hatefulness than Palin could ever accomplish. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2025, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gateway-idiot/1025557/5 "2025-12-09T16:04:39Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Why not W. himself? Maybe not an idiot, but much lower intelligence than expected of a President Yeah I’d say W is a bigger milestone on the road to Trump than Palin. Mainly because I think Palin was about as much of a hick as her reputation made her out to be. She obviously leaned into to her “simple Alaskan country housewife” schtick but she didn’t make it up completely. W absolutely did. He was part of an elite east coast old money dynasty. I am more of a cowboy than G W Bush. He was as stupid as made out, but “privileged heir of a rich dynasty” stupid not “farmhand who has never left his home town” stupid. He taught Trump that you don’t really need to try too hard at being some kind of country bumpkin for the Republican base to love you. In fact you don’t need to try at all just say hateful racist things and they won’t care that you are part of the East Coast elite. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2025, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gateway-idiot/1025557/6 "2025-12-09T16:05:37Z")
But hatefulness isn’t the topic-_idiocy_ is. The dumbing down, the acceptance and even open support of stupidity. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2025, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gateway-idiot/1025557/7 "2025-12-09T16:10:42Z")
Dan Quayle ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2025, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gateway-idiot/1025557/8 "2025-12-09T16:35:19Z")
Dan Quayle had virtually no impact at all. He was a joke to most Republicans of the time. I was one at the time in fact. Quayle: Not smart? Correct. Lowered the bar? Not likely. ---
**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:** [December 9, 2025, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gateway-idiot/1025557/9 "2025-12-09T16:35:44Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > But hatefulness isn’t the topic-_idiocy_ is. The dumbing down, the acceptance and even open support of stupidity. People had already accepted the idea of being led by a dumb president with Ronald Reagan. What I feel Palin represented was the the “good” wing of the Republican party throwing in the towel. The right wing whackjobs had been a growing presence in the party but there was still a group of Republicans who were trying to present themselves as an alternative that was capable of governing like competent adults. McCain was one of these remaining Republican adults. But he could no longer present himself as an alternative to the whackjobs. Instead he needed to reach out to them and choose a whackjob as a running mate. This was when the whackjobs took over the Republican party. From now on, even a Republican who was sane as an individual had to be seen as somebody who was helping to advance a crazy agenda. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2025, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gateway-idiot/1025557/10 "2025-12-09T16:40:55Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > People had already accepted the idea of being led by a dumb president with Ronald Reagan. That is some total bullshit. Reagan wasn’t dumb and didn’t play dumb. His mind clearly slipped by the last two years, but you’re injecting your own dislike of Reagan for his intelligence. He wasn’t as smart as Carter, a nuclear engineer, but right on par with Johnson. ---
**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:** [December 9, 2025, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gateway-idiot/1025557/11 "2025-12-09T16:41:13Z")
There were likely several attempts, with George Bush being the most successful during his first term. In his second term he realized that he was being used by his veep and those who supported his candidacy to their own ends. In Trump, they found the perfect useful idiot to promote their fascist agenda, which has been around for a long time. A second term for this fool was the biggest wet dream they could have hoped for. ---
**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:** [December 9, 2025, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gateway-idiot/1025557/12 "2025-12-09T16:41:39Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Dan Quayle had virtually no impact at all. He was a joke to most Republicans of the time. I was one at the time in fact. > Quayle: Not smart? Correct. Lowered the bar? Not likely. I feel Quayle served the same purpose as Henry Wallace or Spiro Agnew; they were all impeachment insurance. You had Presidents who knew they were going to do (or in Bush’s case, had already done) some questionable activities and might face the possibility of being forced out of office by an impeachment. So they were preparing a last ditch defense because any member of Congress would was thinking about voting in favor of impeachment would hesitate when they looked at who would step into the Presidency. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2025, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gateway-idiot/1025557/13 "2025-12-09T16:41:46Z")
In answer to the OP, I don’t think so. After Palin, the next Republican candidate was still Romney, a very mature and sensible guy. Trump himself was the gateway. ---
**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:** [December 9, 2025, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gateway-idiot/1025557/14 "2025-12-09T16:45:40Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > That is some total bullshit. Reagan wasn’t dumb and didn’t play dumb. I disagree. There was a widespread perception at the time that Reagan was a nice guy but not very smart. ---
**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:** [December 9, 2025, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gateway-idiot/1025557/15 "2025-12-09T16:52:32Z")
[Here’s a SNL sketch from 1986.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5wfPlgKFh8) The whole punchline is that Reagan is intelligent. That idea was considered hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2025, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gateway-idiot/1025557/16 "2025-12-09T17:03:05Z")
I see the whole premise as flawed. It’s not like there was a critical idiot that needed to exist. All that really needed to exist was the slow degradation of standards by Fox News and the general right wing media ecosystem over the course of several decades. Sure, you can point to some specific person or specific date/time and say “This! This was the final straw” but that seems overly reductive ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2025, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gateway-idiot/1025557/17 "2025-12-09T17:24:47Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > I see the whole premise as flawed. It’s not like there was a critical idiot that needed to exist. I agree. And I don’t think Trump is the gateway, I think he is the current consequence of a long slide into stupidity on the right, and he himself is actively ensuring that completely incompetent people are in key government positions. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2025, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gateway-idiot/1025557/18 "2025-12-09T18:10:25Z")
Uhhh. Palin was observable as an idiot. As was Bush. The gateway was opening up the gates for outright in your face racism and bigotry. That’s Trumps shtick. That’s who he is. A con man too. I lay this mess at his feet where it belongs. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2025, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gateway-idiot/1025557/19 "2025-12-09T18:24:08Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > As was Bush. The gateway was opening up the gates for outright in your face racism and bigotry. That’s Trumps shtick. That’s who he is. A con man too. But Bush taught him how easily the GOP base can be conned. Bush wasn’t that convincing at being a down home southern good ole boy, he clearly was still an heir of a rich east coast dynasty. But the GOP base ate that shit up and asked for seconds. Trump just took it one step further and just didn’t even bother pretending. He just said racist stuff and the GOP base adopted him as their own as if he’d grown up on a tobacco farm in Alabama ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2025, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gateway-idiot/1025557/20 "2025-12-09T18:30:42Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > But Bush taught him how easily the GOP base can be conned. Disagree that Trump can be taught. I guess the GOP base was conned, but that’s what Trump does. That’s his entire business model. But it wasn’t much of a con job. It’s who he is. It’s what the MAGA’s want to be. Openly racist bigots that fall backasswards into a pile of money. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gateway-idiot/1025557.md?page=2)