Salon: "Rick Perry may not be able to overcome doubts about his intellect as easily as Reagan and W"

Monday, Aug 29, 2011 14:27 ET
War Room
When being the "dumb" candidate is a problem
By Steve Kornacki

http://www.salon.com/news/rick_perry/index.html?story=/politics/war_room/2011/08/29/rick_perry_dumb



Being the "dumb" candidate has actually been a pretty good formula for Republican presidential aspirants these past few decades.

Ronald Reagan was famously dismissed as "an amiable dunce" by Clark Clifford, a longtime player in Democratic politics, and the Carter White House was glad to draw him as an opponent in 1980 -- until Reagan pulled away late in the campaign and racked up a 44-state landslide. And 20 years later, the "dumb" label was affixed to George W. Bush, who still managed to unite his party around him and end up in the White House.

That two of the three most recent Republican presidents were elected even after their intellectual credentials were ridiculed may be a source of comfort to Rick Perry right now, as the doubts about his intellect that have flourished in Texas for years follow him onto the national stage. Perry's old college transcript, heavy with C's and D's, made its way into the press a few weeks ago, he seemed unable to answer a simple question about China last week, and now Politico has come right and asked the question: "Is Rick Perry dumb?" (Their conclusion: It's complicated!)

It's certainly possible that this kind of chatter won't hurt Perry. If he can convince Republican activists and primary voters that it's mainly the product of his enemies in the liberal media and the Democratic Party, then it could make him more attractive to them. Jonathan Chait has written about the role that conservative identity politics, "which is devoted to exploring and nurturing the cultural grievances endured by white people in the 'Heartland' at the hands of cultural elites," plays in today's GOP. Perry's entire campaign seems to be rooted in forging an emotional connection with these voters, and so far it's working quite well. They may come to regard attacks on Perry's intellect as de facto attacks on their own brain power. This is how Bush forged and nurtured his connection with them.