The dumbing down of the GOP

[mook]

http://www.salon.com/opinion/conason/2008/10/04/dumb/index.html

Seriously, this article brings up a pretty good point. Other than the Bob Dole ticket in 1996, it seems like you can go back to 1984 as the last time Republicans didn't have a pretty dim lightbulb on the ticket.

I know I'll hear retorts that Kerry and Gore didn't have great grades in college either, but we all know that when you heard them speak you felt like you were listening to people who had a grasp of the issues, even if they'd reached opposite conclusions from your own politics.

There are lots of smart conservatives out there (I enjoy reading several). It's not like the party is bereft of talent. Why does it seem like so much of the time they saddle down a pretty smart guy (McCain, Cheney, Bush Sr) with somebody who clearly doesn't have the brains to run the show?

Of course, the one time they've recently run two pretty smart guys (Dole/Kemp), they lost. So maybe there's something to their strategy....

 

[Denny Crane]

The counterpoint is: Kerry, Gore, Dukakis, Mondale, Carter, and McGovern. There's a bunch of clowns, not the brightest bulbs in the box.

At one point, I thought the Democratic Party was on the verge of dying off entirely. But Clinton really saved the party. Before he was elected, they had nobody except Ted Kennedy who wasn't a dufus to run as president. If a Democrat did get elected, their choices for experienced people to work in the West Wing were Carter Administration FAILures or LBJ era geezers. Even Ted wasn't much more than an icon of sorts - he was a womanizing, loudmouthed, drunk. There simply wasn't any bench strength.

The republicans at the time had Dole and Kemp and Bennett and James Baker and Colin Powell and Cheney and several others - quality choices for the top spot and a very deep bench. After 1994, the republicans failed to pass term limits but the best of them effectively term limited themselves by quitting after 2 terms (Armey, Kasich, et al).

W really leveled the playing field this election by picking a VP (Cheney) who isn't running to succeed his president. I don't remember the last time this happened, certainly going back to 1960 a sitting VP has always run. Without the power of incumbency, like flying around on Air Force One (or Two), and being able to tap the same donors who funded the ticket 8 years ago, it's tough for McCain.

McCain ain't bad, he's just really freaking old. Rudy is a pretty good guy to actually run the govt. if not a terrible campaigner.

Of course, the one time the Dems ran a smart guy (Clinton), we got the most corrupt presidency since Nixon.

 

[maxiep]

There are two kinds of smarts: intellect and common sense. Intellect tends to embrace more liberal ideals; common sense tends to end up with right-of-center conclusions.