"Being smart isn't everything."

That's what a George W. Bush supporter told me at a pro-Bush rally a few days before the 2000 election.

Elections are certainly not contests of IQ or knowledge. If you believe abortion is murder, you're not likely to vote for a candidate who favors abortion rights over one who wants to criminalize abortion, even if the abortion rights supporter clearly has more candlepower. But as the election of 2000 showed, being smarter did not help Al Gore. The media held him to a different and higher standard than Bush, who was widely regarded by many reporters as not all that bright. And Bush even exploited the fact he was no smarty-pants, deriding Gore for actually making arguments with facts and figures. Know-nothingness worked out well for Bush (at least it helped him reach the White House). It's now entered the 2008 race.

Reporting on Fred Thompson's recent swing through Iowa, Politico's Roger Simon noted,

John Rich, the country music star, is campaigning with Thompson in Iowa. Rich wears a big, black Stetson and has "Fred 08" picked out in spangles on his guitar.

"Fred Thompson speaks the common man’s language," Rich tells audiences. "He doesn't try to dizzy us with facts and figures."

Yes, please don't impress us, Senator, with a command of facts and figures. Who wants that?

It's true that Jimmy Carter's intelligence did not make him an effective president. But is there anything wrong with knowing stuff and backing up empty rhetoric with details and actual information? ("Let's keep doing what works and quit doing what doesn't work," Thompson told one gathering in Iowa.)

On the campaign trail, Thompson, who once made hundreds of thousands of dollars a year as a Washington lawyer and lobbyist, shows little interest in policy specifics. Why bother? he seems to be saying. He's just going to share his good ol' common sense notions with you-the-people and folksy his way to the nomination and the White House. No need to dizzy anyone with facts. And why not? It's worked before.

COMING ATTRACTION. The House committee on government oversight and reform is holding a hearing today on corruption within the Iraqi government. Former Judge Radhi (see below) is expected to testify. I intend to be there and to report later on the proceedings.

Posted by David Corn at October 4, 2007 07:56 AM