Smart politics

David Hirsanyi:

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In a recent Politico piece (one that mistakes wonkery for overall intelligence), readers are asked, Is Rick Perry dumb? "He is not an ideas man," explains Politico. He "hasn't spent his political career marking up the latest Cato or Heritage white papers or reading policy-heavy books late into the night. Advisers and colleagues have informed much of his thinking over the years."

Listen, I love reading a Cato white paper as much as the next guy, but that doesn't make me smart; it makes me tragically boring. No doubt Barack Obama picked up his sad conviction in redistributionist economics perusing stacks of white papers -- highlight marker within reach -- but his presidency was won on crude progressive populism anchored in emotion, not reason. Policy ideas had little to do with Obama's election victory, though they have almost everything to do with his failures as president.

I've not seen or heard enough of Perry to form any opinion on his intellect -- and if he instituted policies that I agreed with, I, like most Americans, wouldn't give one whit what his IQ was, but politicians, by their nature, are not intellectually curious, save their ability to twist their opponent's beliefs for political gain. Elections, after all, are about pandering, not thinking.

That doesn't make them "dumb." What makes a person dumb is repeating mistakes when all the evidence tells him to stop for his own good. We will witness this human shortcoming when the president rolls out his new "stimulus" package. Some ideas, goes Orwell's saying, are so dumb only intellectuals can believe them.

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Liberals believe that if your were really smart you would be a liberal. This explains the dynamic success of those in the black caucus who think the Tea Party is about wanting to lynch blacks. It explains Patty Murray and Barbara Boxer both intellectual light weights who are never challenged because they are liberals. None of these have had the success in governing that Rick Perry has had in Texas. Those who think he is not smart will find themselves regretting the error.