Who's the smartest elected Democrat you know or know of?

[Stinky The Clown]

I'm talking scary smart. I'm talking the smartest person at the Mensa meeting.

Who is the smartest elected Democrat right now? (The phrasing is purposeful. The Dawg's not a valid answer.)

[dave123williams]

1. Carl Levin is pretty bloody smart...but the all-time award goes to Bubba.

Clinton is the shiznit.

[MannyGoldstein]

5. Yes, NAFTA Was BRILLIANT

As was blasting open "free" trade with China. And so forth.

[MannyGoldstein]

8. Howard Dean

The proof of the pudding is in the eating.

After 12 years of the DLC running the DNC, and getting our asses kicked every time, Dean ran a 50-state campaign - and we took both houses.

[WildEyedLiberal]

30. Neither of your posts has anything to do with intelligence

Essentially, what you are saying is that politicians who pass policies you support are smart and those who pass policies you dislike are dumb. It's a little more complicated than that. Just because you dislike NAFTA has no bearing on Clinton's intelligence, and likewise, because you think the 50 state strategy is a good idea is not indicative of Dean's intelligence relative to Clinton. It's pretty silly to suggest that political ideology and strategy has much correlation to IQ.

For the record, Clinton was a Rhodes Scholar, and being an MD, I am sure Dean is pretty bright too.

[featherman]

2. A case could be made for Robert Rubin certainly

[satya]

3. Jerry Brown is the first one that came to mind.

Smart in the high-IQ, visionary-thinker sort of way. If you're talking one of the other kinds of intelligences, I might change my answer.

[Stinky The Clown]

9. I can buy that!

He's always been ahead of the curve ..... in a Jerry Brown sort of way!

[longship]

15. Now it's Attorney General Jerry Brown.

Just had to rub it in for the lurking freepers.

[William769]

4. HILLARY CLINTON!

:hide:

[HappyWeasel]

7. Well...

I heard that Obama is at least as smart as any Clinton. Rahm is becoming the Karl Rove of the left. Let's see how his career goes.

[razors edge]

6. Patrick Leahy

scary smart.

[HappyWeasel]

10. Maybe the job of keeping the Federalist Society out of total control of SCOTUS would be a task ...

fitting for him

[razors edge]

16. That takes the political will

of more than one, but his leadership will be needed.

[BootinUp]

49. I think so too.

[Auntie Bush]

68. Me too...but I'm prejudice.

[fairfaxvadem]

11. Barney Frank...

Very well known that Rep. Frank is one of the smartest guys around. Big Brain on Barney.

But, I think that Jim Webb may be at the top of the list - have a good look at everything that guy has done. He's right up there with both of the Clintons and Frank in terms of brainpower. Super Smart.

And the new Congressman from California, Jerry McNerney, he's PhD in Math... You don't find too many of them in Congress.

[SharonAnn]

17. I'm with you. I think Barney Frank.

[AllieB]

62. Brilliant, witty, and if you've ever seen him on Bill Maher,

quick on his feet.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

67. One of my all-time favorites!

:7

[amitten]

12. Hillary. Smarter than the whole bunch put together. But, she'll

never be elected President.

[longship]

13. Jerry McNerney? Others...

Jerry McNerney, who just defeated Richard Pombo in CA-11, has a PhD in mathematics and is a recognized authority in his field, wind energy engineering. He might be among the highest educated Congress critter.

There are many other possibilities. I've always been astounded at Peter DeFazio's ability to pull a myriad of statistics out of his brain. Likewise, Henry Waxman.

There are probably so many others like these three. I'd like to hear what others say here.

[Royal Sloan 09]

14. He's smart,and newly elected to Congress

The new Congressman from CA-11 district, Gerald "Jerry" McNerney. He beat Richard Pombo, 7 time incumbent, with a rag tag group of grass roots activists. He's educated, holds a PHD in Mathematics and he's a renewal energy expert in Wind power generation. He seems like a fairly smart fellow to me, it should be noted he's never held a government office before. So, he's a freshman Congressman and hopefully he will do the job with honesty and ethics. Let's give him the opportunity to prove that he's got the meddle to get the tough job done, I know he'll be great.

[AspenRose]

18. Randi Rhodes calls Chuck Schumer the "Rain Man" of Congress

:shrug:

[Jed Dilligan]

19. I don't think any politician, or any "people person"

is among the smartest of the smart. It would be impossible for someone in the highest category of intelligence to deal with the life of an elected official.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

20. My money's on Eliot Spitzer, the newly elected Gov of NY!

And I am looking forward to seeing him run for president one fine day!

[snowbear]

26. Good choice Peggy!!

We need another thread where we can also add "non-elected Democrats!" .. There's a slew of em to add!..

[Mr_Spock]

21. Bill Clinton - oh, NOW? Ummmm, idunno

Never thought about these fellows...

[Bitwit1234]

22. Hillary Clinton

She along with her hubby has one of the highest IQ's going.

[StarTurtle]

23. Minnesota state rep Phyllis Kahn.

She has a Ph.D. in something arcane like biophysics and she is absolutely brilliant. She also comes up with bonzer ideas for making Repugs froth at the mouth. My personal favorite, from several years ago when the Repugs were imposing mandatory testing on the schools, was that each member of the legislature should take the benchmark test for graduating from high school -- and when any of them rose to speak, his or her score would show on the electronic boards on either side of the chamber.

It didn't stand a chance, of course, but isn't it a lovely thought?

:rofl:

[cadmium]

57. She sounds like a hot ticket

Can you tell us more about her on more recent thread some time. We always need some bright pols with some stuff.

[LittleClarkie]

24. Massachusettians (aka Massholes) say that Kerry is wicked smart

and I believe them.

[upi402]

25. bill clinton, and i dislike NAFTA corporatists

but he's a freak in the mind zone.

[Ninja Jordan]

27. Chuck Schumer scored a 1600 on the SAT

perfect score.

[FrenchieCat]

37. His daughter just graduated from Harvard....

so it must run in the family.

[Alexander]

28. For brains, either Obama or Kerry

Kerry speaks like 5 languages fluently or something, in addition to knowing a whole bunch of other shit.

Obama rarely uses notes or teleprompters when he speaks. From what I've seen he winged nearly everything except the 2004 DNC speech.

[goclark]

43. I'm with you on Kerry/Obama plus Big Dawg

[karynnj]

51. In terms of foreign policy issues, Kerry is

Kerry's views on how to deal with terrorism, ridiculed in 2004 because they were not standard or conventional wisdom, are now excepted by most thoughtful people. They were based on his view of the globalization of crime - an issue ignored by almost all other politicians - that is the broader definition of non-state terrorism.

Other brilliant politicians avoided seeing the ramifications of international crime as seen in a corrupt bank (BCCI) buying off politicians to prevent oversight of their activities. John Kerry's book (The NEW WAR)shows that his pursuit of this issue was not just a laudable desire to insure that law mean something or disgust at the corruption. In his speech for Clean Elections, he understood how the need to raise huge sums of money jeopordizes our very democracy as people feel they have no voice.

Kerry's performance in the debates show how well informed and how insightful he is on every issue asked. There is a long list of "Kerry was right" items.

What Kerry is NOT the most intelligent at include:
- devising and implementing negative attacks
- twisting the positions of others
- saying different things to different people while appearing to be consistent

[pink-o]

55. Yeah, but Kerry has a hard time articulating....

....I know a lot of people who're like him, very very smart but unable to put their thoughts across coherantly. I could get semantical and start splitting hairs about the definition of intelligence, but the conventional philosophy is that there are 6 different kinds of intelligence--and VERBAL intelligence is one of them.

Let's face it, Kerry is abysmal for that. He obsfucates, obscures and digresses far too much. AND people misinterpret him, like that shitstorm last month about his "botched" joke.

It's a typical Sagittarian character flaw--I know, because I'm one and I have it too!

[beachmom]

58. When he is tired, that sometimes happens (and boy, the attackers

and the MSM makes sure it's on every television set in America). But I've seen him on C-SPAN give BRILLIANT, really poetic, speeches, and I've also seen off the cuff Q & A stuff where he is equally brilliant. I really think somebody needs to give him some tough love, and insist he gets enough sleep -- that really seems to make a difference for him. And, yeah, if your brain doesn't get proper rejuvenation it doesn't work as well.

[election_2004]

29. Debra Bowen

California Secretary of State-elect

http://www.debrabowen.com

[EMAN51]

31. I always answer the same way......

Kent Conrad.

[JNelson6563]

47. He always impresses me

when they send him to argue the fiscal points. I always smile when I see him with his charts etc. Very bright guy.

Julie

[thatsrightimirish]

32. Considering that Byrd has been around forever and has probably seen everything

I'll go with him

[bobbie]

33. Kucinich

...

[Lydia Leftcoast]

66. Yes, Kucinich! And he can think on his feet

I've seen him answer unrehearsed questions from a large audience, with some of the questions being way out there, and he either knows the facts of the issue or, in the case of the more bizarre questions, knows how to use it as an opportunity to explain his views further. (His handling of a weepy "save the fetuses" anti-choice fanatic was brilliant.)

[fuzzyball]

34. Bill Clinton ...the best democrat since JFK

In the current crop I think it is Maria Cantwell.
She has succeeded in a highly competitive high tech field.

[tkmorris]

35. Not elected (yet) but........

Wes Clark is as smart as they come. I'd guess his IQ would easily rank in the top 5 IF he were elected.

But of course you wanted to know about elected Dems. Funny though, I really have no idea. I know that Chuck Schumer is reputed to be quite intelligent, but he has already been mentioned. Jon Corzine always struck me as a pretty bright guy, but I can't say how bright.

:shrug:

[wiley]

36. Wes Clark will be.

[Eurobabe]

42. He would have been my first choice if ELECTED hadn't

been part of the sentence.

[Norrin Radd]

38. Jim McDermott.

[AtomicKitten]

39. Bill Clinton has a brilliant political mind.

eom

[fuzzyball]

71. The best politician of 20th century

sans Monica, the best "politican" ever.

[Blue Shark]

40. James Webb is a contender... N/T

[Eurobabe]

41. Big Dawg, as in brains

but perhaps not so smart in personal relationship category. Oh well, we can't be perfect.

[lumpy]

44. Wesley Clark is awesome in the brain department,

not scary smart though, just a very well educated, level headed, decent person.
West Point
Rhodes scholar
Master in econ
Speaks 4 languages
Highest Medal of Freedom
Several honorary knighthoods
And more....
Sorry, he isn't elected yet( didn't notice that point), although he has had impressive appointments
B. Clinton of course is brilliant, although not always practical

[whirlygigspin]

45. I'll pick Levin

cause I like his style

no nonsense smart

Doesn't come off as arrogant or geeky...but is intense.

me likey

[cali]

46. There are lots of different kinds of intelligence

Being Mensa smart doesn't really mean anything. We're lucky to have so many tough, smart dems- both in elected office and in other positions- as this thread demonstrates.

[Jai4WKC08]

56. Doesn't mean anything???

Yeah, there are lots of different kinds of intelligence, but some count more than others if you're talking about who's best qualified to hold public office. Some kinds don't count for anything at all.

Being "Mensa smart" should mean a helluva lot. The way this nation runs and our role in the world are very complicated matters. It's critically important that our leaders know a lot about it before they ever get into the position of leadership. It's equally important that they are able to use that info in their decision making, can get new information if they need it, can recognize when new info is needed, can evaluate and assimilate the new info with the old, yada yada yada, if they are to stand any chance of solving, or helping to solve, the problems before us.

All of that is what I would call "Mensa smart." It's not enough by itself, of course, but given two people with all the same other attributes, the one with more "Mensa smarts" is always the better choice for public office.

[BootinUp]

48. I was impressed with one of the newbies

in a debate...Amy Klobuchar.

But I think H. Clinton, Harry Reid, and the guy on the judiciary...Leahy. Sorry couldn't just name one.

[cadmium]

50. Barney Frank

[LWolf]

52. I'd need to at least meet all of them

and have a one-on-one conversation to determine that.

Still, using their debate responses, speeches, votes, etc., I can rule some out of that list.

Anyone who thought it was a great idea to go along with GWB's war on terror and vote for the IWR or the patriot act is not the smartest Democrat out there.

That's just a beginning. Who does that leave?

[LeftishBrit]

53. Both Bill Clinton and Al Gore

That team certainly beat the Daddy Bush/ Quayle team by quite a large margin in the IQ department.

[OzarkDem]

60. Yep

both are brilliant. Al's only weakness was his choice of campaign strategists.

That said, there are many, many more Dems who are close behind them.

[Doctor_J]

63. One of those two

either one sitting alone has more brain power than the entire Smirk Administration.

[SCDem]

54. Senator Byrd

His knowledge of American history and the history of the roots of democracy itself are impressive.

[beachmom]

59. Our presidential candidates: Clinton, Gore, Kerry

We always pick brilliant people to represent us. It's not just innate intelligence though. They DO THEIR HOMEWORK.

[Imagevision]

61. Obama

[THUNDER HANDS]

64. didn't RFK have some insane IQ

like 200 or something?

[dorktv]

65. ME! heehee

[Auntie Bush]

69. Wes Clark! He has the all time highest ranking at West Point!

Smartest man that ever went there!

[Amused Musings]

70. Adlai Stevenson

Too bad he was a nerd