Buttigieg the smartest, Trump the dumbest

[_subgenius]

I am certainly curious a to how either the OP or you are able to determine the "smart"-ness of a candidate. Is it from their heavily produced website? well groomed photo? rehearsed and coached Q&A softball interviews?...or perhaps it is their titillating platform positions conveyed during the most accurate of all "smart"-ness forums - the stump speech.

Professional background, knowledge, extemporaneous ability to speak intelligently on a variety of topics, evidence of reasoning like an intelligent person does.

Don’t let the fact that you support a walking Dunning-Krueger effect who speaks like a cross between an idiot trying to BS his way through life and someone suffering a serious neurological condition leave you so insecure. You know it’s possible to get an approximate sense of personal intelligence from how people communicate.

1. Professional background...ok, sounds like a wholly subjective measure for a candidate's "smartness", but maybe you define "smart" in your own way.
2. Knowledge.....huh? how do you determine what a candidate "knows"? or do you mean what they have memorized in preparation for a tv appearance?
3. "eloquence"....yep, genuine sign of "smart"-ness right there.
4. Evidence of reasoning....got any examples for Warren?...because there is no evidence of that in her policies or by her decision to live broadcast her "improv" beer drinking.

[_honorentheos]

EA said, "extemporaneous ability to speak intelligently on a variety of topics", and subbie reduced that to, "eloquence".

That about sums it up.

[_Chap]

2. Knowledge.....huh? how do you determine what a candidate "knows"? or do you mean what they have memorized in preparation for a tv appearance?

As C.S. Lewis wrote, "There are no holding places in your mind for the answer to that question."

[_DarkHelmet]

Trump is very smart in specific areas. For example, he is media savvy. He's been a public figure for a long time and knows how to manipulate the media to keep himself relevant. Even bad publicity is publicity. He's also a master salesman. Everything about him is "the best", " the greatest", "believe me." Most people see through the slick sales tactics, but a significant enough minority buys it to the point of near worship.

On the more traditional measures he comes across as dumb. Things like simple spelling, speaking coherently, and trying to BS his way through conversations on topics he obviously knows nothing about. He fails the old adage of better to keep quiet and let people think you're a fool. He can't resist opening his mouth to blab about every topic that enters his mind. And when he learns something new, such as Lincoln being a Republican, he likes to share this new found knowledge with the world - "Most people don't know Lincoln was a Republican." Umm, yes we do President Dunning-Kruger. But all of this doesn't necessarily bother me. It could instead simply make him eccentric and even endearing if he wasn't such an ahole. His biggest flaw for me is his disdain for anyone who refuses to lick his boots, and his over the top school yard bully behavior. I struggle to understand how this behavior by our president is tolerated by some, and I'm totally perplexed how his most loyal followers actually find this behavior attractive.

[_EAllusion]

I don’t think it takes brilliance to say X is the best thing in the history of things. If what Trump does works, that’s because of a decrepit system around him rather than any grand insight. Trump has an insult comic’s instincts in a way that not everyone could do if they wanted to, but his ability to be the world’s most obvious conman doesn’t point to any deep insight on his part.

His real super-power is total shamelessness, probably owing to a personality disorder. But it doesn’t require intelligence to be so broken.

[_subgenius]

EA said, "extemporaneous ability to speak intelligently on a variety of topics", and subbie reduced that to, "eloquence".

That about sums it up.

I was giving EA the benefit of the doubt...highly unlikely, if not impossible, that EA has ever witnessed any "extemporaneous" moments by any of the above mentioned candidates....let alone witnessing on "variety of topics".
If anything EA's long-winded measurement of "extemporaneous ability + speak intelligently" is nothing more than eloquence of memory.

[_EAllusion]

I was giving EAllusion the benefit of the doubt...highly unlikely, if not impossible, that EAllusion has ever witnessed any "extemporaneous" moments by any of the above mentioned candidates....let alone witnessing on "variety of topics".
If anything EAllusion's long-winded measurement of "extemporaneous ability + speak intelligently" is nothing more than eloquence of memory.

I love the contrast between naïve cynicism and unearned condescension this post represents. It’s the closest thing we get to your real self.

Yes, lots of these public figures have been in situations requiring them to think on their feet in how to respond that you can observe. That you think they’ve spent the entirety of their public lives just offering rehearsed sound bytes is cute, and in some instances would be impressive in its own way.

[_MeDotOrg]

With regards to extemporaneous speaking, Donald Trump is really, really, really good because he has a amazing, amazing, amazing vocabulary because he is very, very, very smart. He must have a really, really, really, great, great, great thesaurus of superlatives.

Seriously though, whatever shortcomings Trump has as a speaker, he is a great performer. The tragedy is how many Americans do not appreciate the difference.

Recently I came across a video of Robert Kennedy speaking words he had scribbled in the back of a car on his way to address a crowd after the assassination of Martin Luther King. Kennedy was undoubtedly a gifted performer as a speaker, but the words come from a part of his heart that simply does not exist in Donald Trump. In such moments, a great leader speaks words that elevate and transcend the pain of the moment.

Donald Trump has had the opportunity to speak words that would elevate. After Charlottesville, after Pulse, after Las Vegas, and during his recent trip to Normandy, Trump has had opportunities to be a great leader and speak inspiring words. But all moments requiring eloquence are usually scripted and somewhat stilted. Sarcasm and derision are in Trump's wheelhouse, soaring rhetoric not so much.

[Guest]

Having just finished reading Elizabeth Warren's book, A Fighting Chance, I have very little doubt about her intelligence, compassion, integrity and competence to wisely lead our country as President. It is one of the most inspiring books I have read. No reasonable and honest person familiar with her history and what she has accomplished despite formidable opposition can have any doubt that her intelligence, compassion and, most certainly, integrity, far exceeds that of Donald J. Trump.

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
An unlikely political star tells the inspiring story of the two-decade journey that taught her how Washington really works―and really doesn't―in A Fighting Chance
As a child in small-town Oklahoma, Elizabeth Warren yearned to go to college and then become an elementary school teacher―an ambitious goal, given her family's modest means. Early marriage and motherhood seemed to put even that dream out of reach, but fifteen years later she was a distinguished law professor with a deep understanding of why people go bankrupt. Then came the phone call that changed her life: could she come to Washington DC to help advise Congress on rewriting the bankruptcy laws?
Thus began an impolite education into the bare-knuckled, often dysfunctional ways of Washington. She fought for better bankruptcy laws for ten years and lost. She tried to hold the federal government accountable during the financial crisis but became a target of the big banks. She came up with the idea for a new agency designed to protect consumers from predatory bankers and was denied the opportunity to run it. Finally, at age 62, she decided to run for elective office and won the most competitive―and watched―Senate race in the country.
In this passionate, funny, rabble-rousing book, Warren shows why she has chosen to fight tooth and nail for the middle class―and why she has become a hero to all those who believe that America's government can and must do better for working families.

Of course to today's Trumpists and hardline, GOP conservatives, intelligence, compassion and integrity are serious liabilities that must be avoided at all cost. Why else have such a high proportion of Trump appointees been indicted and even convicted for crimes, and/or forced to resign in disgrace for various reasons ranging from domestic abuse to serious graft and financial fraud?

[_Gunnar]

With regards to extemporaneous speaking, Donald Trump is really, really, really good because he has a amazing, amazing, amazing vocabulary because he is very, very, very smart. He must have a really, really, really, great, great, great thesaurus of superlatives.

Seriously though, whatever shortcomings Trump has as a speaker, he is a great performer. The tragedy is how many Americans do not appreciate the difference.

Recently I came across a video of Robert Kennedy speaking words he had scribbled in the back of a car on his way to address a crowd after the assassination of Martin Luther King. Kennedy was undoubtedly a gifted performer as a speaker, but the words come from a part of his heart that simply does not exist in Donald Trump. In such moments, a great leader speaks words that elevate and transcend the pain of the moment.

Donald Trump has had the opportunity to speak words that would elevate. After Charlottesville, after Pulse, after Las Vegas, and during his recent trip to Normandy, Trump has had opportunities to be a great leader and speak inspiring words. But all moments requiring eloquence are usually scripted and somewhat stilted. Sarcasm and derision are in Trump's wheelhouse, soaring rhetoric not so much.

So, so true, and what a glaring contrast between Kennedy (and a lot of other respected national leaders of all stripes, even including some noteworthy Republicans) and Trump. Any who can't or won't see that are willfully and hopelessly blind, ignorant, and/or pathologically dishonest themselves.