Plenty of evidence can be mustered to prove that Bush and Obama have each done some stupid things in their lives, and each has done some smart things as well. But I’d like to argue that intelligence, in an IQ sense, is less important to being a good president than such things as character, ideology, and common sense. Perhaps the worst president since WW II was Jimmy Carter, who had IQ and character, but lacked judgement and leaned far left. And we now revere such middling minds as Truman and Eisenhower for their guts and organization skills at a time of testing for our nation.
Another observation about the Bush vs. Obama contest: Obama is charismatic and masterful as a speaker, while Bush talks like a hick. Many people can’t get past appearances in our American Idol culture, to Bush’s disadvantage. I suspect history will treat him more kindly than today’s chattering classes.
