Who are you calling stupid?

Kathleen ParkerThe Washington Post

“Are Republicans stupid?” asked Kathleen Parker. Democrats certainly think so. That’s the only way they can explain the popularity of GOP presidential hopeful Rick Perry, a self-confessed terrible student, who jokes that he was in the top 10 of his high school graduating class of…13! Or the election of George W. Bush, who once boasted that anyone—even a straight-C student like himself—could grow up to be president. This “reverse braggadocio is mysterious to Democrats,” who revere Ivy League–educated intellectuals. Many of their “book-smart” politicians, like President Obama, have little experience outside of politics and academia, but nevertheless assume that “experts” like themselves can solve all problems.

“Stupid” Republicans, meanwhile, have more faith in average Americans, who may not have Ivy League diplomas but nonetheless are “self-reliant, individualistic, [and] entrepreneurial.” In an ideal world, our president would have both “a well-read mind” and plenty of real-world experience. Until such a candidate arrives, my money is on the “stupid” politicians, “who are dumb as foxes and happy as clams when their opponents misunderestimate them.”