BUNCHA DUMMIES

Not to be overly tactful, why is that the Republicans run uninformed, incurious, and downright unintelligent people for national office? I mean, why would they want to?

I am thinking of Dan Quayle, Dubya, and Sarah Palin, who have embarrassed themselves and us. And if they are the classroom dunces, other Repub nominees have been "C-" students: Barry Goldwater, Jerry Ford, Ronnie Reagan. But the Dems have consistently run "A" and "B+" students.

Just for the heck of it, I'm going to look back to the start of the last century and compare the intelligence of the Repub and Dem presidential nominees. One can differ with my calls, of course. But it's a free country; as one who has always been interested in politics and biography, and who was a political science major in college before switching to philosophy in grad school, I feel qualified to offer assessments with no implication that anyone must agree with them.

By the way, 1904 was the only election in which the Dem nominee was more conservative than the Repub.

So, then:

1900: William McKinley, R vs. William Jennings Bryan, D. I'd call this a wash.

1904: Theodore Roosevelt, R vs. Alton B. Parker, D. Another wash.

1908: William Howard Taft, R vs. William Jennings Bryan, D. Still another wash.

1912: Woodrow Wilson, D vs. William Howard Taft, R. Wilson was smarter.

1916: Woodrow Wilson, D vs. Charles Evans Hughes, R. Wilson had the edge, but not by much.

1920: Warren G. Harding, R vs. James M. Cox, D. Cox was much smarter.

1924: Calvin Coolidge, R vs. John W. Davis, D. Davis was smarter.

1928: Herbert Hoover, R vs. Al Smith, D. I'd call it a wash.

1932-1944: Franklin Delano Roosevelt bested four Repubs: Herbert Hoover, Alf Landon, Wendell L. Willkie, and Thomas E. Dewey. He was smarter than all four. Who came closest to him for brains? Willkie.

1948: Harry S. Truman, D vs. Tom Dewey, R. If either had the edge, it was Truman.

1952 and 1956: Dwight D. Eisenhower, R vs. Adlai E. Stevenson, D. I'd say a wash. Stevenson was impressive intellectually, while Ike had been a great general.

1960: John F. Kennedy, D vs. Richard M. Nixon, R. Nixon was the smartest Repub nominee from then till now, but JFK was a little smarter.

1964: Lyndon B. Johnson, D vs. Barry M. Goldwater, R. LBJ was decidedly smarter.

1968: Richard M. Nixon, R vs. Hubert H. Humphrey, D. If either had the edge, Humphrey did.

1972: Richard M. Nixon, R vs. George S. McGovern, D. Nixon was smarter.

1976: Jimmy Carter, D vs. Gerald R. Ford Jr., R. Carter, a nuclear scientist, was smarter.

1980: Ronald W. Reagan, R vs. Jimmy Carter, D. Carter was smarter.

1984: Ronald W. Reagan, R vs. Walter F. Mondale, D. Mondale was somewhat smarter.

1988: George H. W. Bush, R vs. Michael S. Dukakis, D. Dukakis was smarter. (Some day I may share with you my theory as to why the very intelligent and ruthlessly competitive Dukakis blew the election.)

1992: Bill Clinton, D vs. George H. W. Bush, R. Clinton was smarter.

1996: Bill Clinton, D vs. Bob Dole, R. Clinton was smarter.

2000: George W. Bush, R vs. Al Gore, D. Gore was smarter.

2004: George W. Bush, R vs. John F. Kerry, D. Kerry was smarter.

2008: Barack H. Obama, D vs. John S. McCain, R. Obama was smarter.

So there is a marked imbalance here. You'd have to wonder why. In only one contest do I see the Repub as the brighter guy, that being Nixon over McGovern in '72.

Long ago in old England, the Conservatives became known as "the stupid party." You know, there could be something to that!