Who's the most intelligent of all the candidates (academically)?

[George_Bonanza]

Let's see, John Kerry, Howard Dean, and John Edwards are all professionals, and very successful ones in each of their pursuits, whether it be medicine or law. Wesley Clark was tops at West Point, was a Rhodes Scholar, and has a Master's in Philosophy, Economics, and Politics. And I don't know about the rest. So in your opinion, who is the most intelligent academically out of the 9? Even if their stances don't agree with yours, without too much personal bias, who's the smartest out of the 9?

[MidwestTransplant]

1. Their is no correlation between intelligence and success

as a president. Oh wait, never mind!

[spooky3]

22. actually, there is a lot of research showing that general intelligence

is one factor predicting success in a lot of occupations (not the only important factor of course). I wouldn't be surprised if it did predict intelligence in Presidents. Compare Clinton versus the current incumbent, for example...

[KissMyAsscroft]

2. Clark has the most worthy credentials..

But as we can see by looking at Bush, I don't think Americans give a shit about that.

[revcarol]

3. Kucinich.

Such a command of the issues that some say, "His speeches need footnotes."

A college graduate, against all odds.

[Lefta Dissenter]

4. Clark, by a mile

though several of the others are at least 17 times as smart as bush

[isbister]

8. ... the others are at least 17 times as smart as bush

Typo:

...the others are at least 117 times as smart as bush :-)

[DuctapeFatwa]

5. Al Sharpton is the most "intelligent," however

intelligence is more of a liability than an asset in politics, for several reasons.

The two main ones: A) It is harder to believe, and thus make others believe, total bullshit, and B:) US culture does not really place a high value on intelligence.

[isbister]

6. Most intelligent - Kerry, Academically - Maybe Clark...

They are all pretty intelligent. Brains for the position they are applying for? I'd rank them:

Kerry
Kucinich
Lieberman/Gephardt
Edwards
Braun/Dean
Clark
Sharpton

[AP]

7. Clark seems to have done pretty well for himself.

You can't beat being valedictorian of a pretty good school. The Rhodes Scholarship is impressive even if you discount for the fact that he was competing with other Arkansans. He clearly moved to the top of his profession.

Edwards also was quite the academic striver, always finishing near the top against the odds, and rose to the top of his profession, and clearly has some impressive skills.

I presume Lieberman was pretty smart. Where'd he finish in his law school class? I don't see much in his professional life that suggest he's head and shoulders above his peers.

I've heard Kerry was smart, but why'd didn't he go to a top tier law school? How'd he do in law school? Professionally, he's no better or worse than Lieberman.

[Clark4VotingRights]

9. Damn, they're a smart bunch. I'll say that for 'em.

All in their own ways.

[bitchkitty]

10. Wesley Clark was first in his class -

but it takes more than brains to go up against the machine. Look at Gore - a highly intelligent man, but he wasn't prepared for the magnitude of the sleaze. Dean is prepared.

[kerry-is-my-prez]

11. Clark - Rhodes Scholar, 3 masters, speaks 4-5 languages, Kerry's

also very intelligent. I get the feeling that Kucinich is also but have nothing to back that up with. And Sharpton...

[Lydia Leftcoast]

13. Kucinich has an amazing ability

to make very intelligent, even erudite speeches, that somehow maintain the common touch. He can quote philosophers without sounding snooty.

[woo me with science]

12. Well....Kerry can't spell...

which I know isn't necessarily correlated with intelligence, but it bothered me when I watched his Live Online chat at washingtonpost.com. Like most chatting candidates, he made quite a few typos that were clearly just slips of the fingers...but he also made (and sometimes repeated) too many (IMO) errors that strongly looked like genuine spelling mistakes (e.g., "ammendment" for "amendment").

The site cleaned up the spelling after the chat, and I wasn't sure how I felt about that...I kind of like to know if my candidate can't spell--particularly a word like "amendment," which he should have come across in his law studies. I wrote the moderator, and she replied that they clean up all the transcripts like that.

I think John Edwards is articulate, and I enjoy listening to him. But, then again, I'm a sucker for a southern accent. :o)

[isbister]

16. Kerry can't spell...

or can't type? I don't imagine a typing test will be necessary for the candidates.

[Syrinx]

17. I'm not certain, but...

I think they probably have typists for the candidates in these situations. So it was the typist that screwed up, not the candidate. That's what I think.

[Name removed]

14. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[arewethereyet]

15. well if you only attempt to stack up degrees, its Clark I guess

but if you want to take a truer measure which brings in the ability to absorb and apply knowledge quickly and spontaneoulsly and tie diverse thoughts together and be in total control of your projection to your audience then John Edwards has been demonstraiting these abilities this entire campaign.

Clark is clearly an intellegent guy and if he can go off and think things through before he gets back to you then he's fine. More or less the same with Dean. Kerry can think on his feet but doesn't always connect well with his audience.

Kucinich is well studied and intellegent as well but not at that level. Same with Gephardt and Lieberman. The others are, in this discussion, the others.

[ludwigb]

18. Clark

But I prefer Dean's character and values.

[Piperay]

19. Everone of them is

more intelligent then that 'thing' that is in the WH now, that's all I know. :shrug:

[DemBones DemBones]

20. For academic performance, Clark's at the top.

The others don't have the grades and number of degrees he does. But they're all achievers of above-average intelligence and some of the others might have done as well as Clark if they'd had the opportunity of an appointment to West Point to start with. That's not to demean Clark's accomplishments, just reflecting on how circumstances ("luck," if you like) shape people's lives.

[rucky]

21. Kucinich has the clearest thinking

more important than raw intelligence

[Killarney]

23. They are all highly intelligent, but if I had to pick one

I'd say Clark. He is just so impressive.

[robbedvoter]

24. Gene Lyons on Clark:

Clark's intellectual brilliance may be more apparent than Clinton's, because Clark doesn't do the "aw-shucks Southern country boy" act the way Clinton can do it. So you're struck immediately with how intelligent he is. At the same time, he listens to people and pays attention to what they're saying, and responds like a human being.
http://www.buzzflash.com/interviews/03/10/int03221.html