When will the Repubs nominate a smart candidate for President?

It seems like ages since they've had the imagination to trust the country to somebody with some brains. Sure, Poppy wasn't completely dense, but he seemed to have some instability (perhaps magnified by having to be Reagan's underling for 8 years).

Reagan of course was dumb as a bag of hammers. Nixon was pretty smart, but I don't think he ever recovered from getting slapped around by JFK, plus he seemed like he had multiple personalities (especially toward the end, when he might have been in his cups a bit, too).

Eisenhower was pretty smart, but that was 50 years ago, plus he seemed more balanced in his approach to politics (overall...I know he had some issues, plus he picked Nixon as a running mate).

Or, is their mission to bring mediocrity to all levels of government so entrenched that they won't be able to change?

But, overall...you're right.

Last time, they rejected a smart guy (McCain -- regardless of what you think of his politics, he's a smart guy) for a dumb one.

They want to have the government run by easily controlled corporate lapdogs like Bush. A Republican that is too smart could start to figure things out and do something.

That said, I don't think Bob Dole was a dummy and neither was John Anderson (the Republican who turned indy who ran in 1980)

Nixon was diabolical, but smart.

It's a lot easier to pass off a 2 dimensional moron like Bush or Reagan to the general public...that's one of the reasons Clinton was so hated by the right, because he was COMPLEX, not simply black or white.

It is just that they have to be stupid in order to buy in totally to that republican agenda.

I'm wondering if they will find another nominee at their convention. That would be great fun to watch them infighting and self destructing in September.

EVIL, certainly, but smart-evil. Kind of Wile E. Coyote, super-genius.

Though maybe that was influenced by the three men that history determined he would always be compared with:

Reagan
Quayle
W

In that company, anyone would look smart.

He mostly earned his way in the world, unlike Shrub. It didn't hurt that his daddy was an east coast Senator, but you don't get put in charge of the CIA or made ambassador to China or head the RNC if you're a dummy.

Dan Quayle and Gerald Ford have to rank up there in the all-time executive idiots lists however, although Shrub tops them.

I was no fan at the time, but W has made his dad look like a better president than many of us thought him to be at the time. If there was a vote, I bet 75% of the country would vote to toss the son in favor of pops

therefore, their "President" is merely a figurehead.

Consider:
1980-88: Reagan/Bush--who REALLY ran that administration? Also, consider "Iran/Contra" and BCCI.
1988-92: Bush/Quayle--Poppy was ex-CIA (see "Reagan/Bush")
1996: Bob Dole, smart but I still think he was "sacrificed" when GOP saw Clinton was going to win re-election (didn't want to taint any Bush chance at White House). GOP tries VRWC to take Clinton down since he took office in 1992.
2000-04: BushII/Cheney--Well, we know for certain that this Bush is not running things. Consider all the secrecy and questionable deals going down during THIS administration.

GOP does not want a smart President, but one willing to take orders from the "shadow government," or insiders (crime syndicates) doing deals and making tons of money.

Doing "business," and not the "people's business," is the forte of the GOP.

The Bush Criminal Empire has been behind every Republican administration since WWII. Even though Eisenhower resisted a lot of their agenda, he was still chosen by his "golfing buddy" Prescott Bush, and Nixon assigned as his running mate by Grandpa Bush. Eisenhower warned America about the "military industrial complex" because he watched those fucking pieces of shit build it. And Ike has since been proven prophetic.

I didn't know that about Bush connections prior to 1980!

I knew Prescott Bush financed Hitler, but didn't know he was such a player in the Eisenhower/Nixon and, consequently, the Nixon/Agnew-Ford administrations.

AS a DUer posted last week "The Bushes ARE the GOP"

I've thought about having a bumper sticker printed this campaign that reads "Are we having enough of the Bush Family yet?", but will definitely do so now!

Stupid is as stupid does.

The two a mutually exclusive. Since the fundy/Reagan/neocons run the Repug party, they cannot produce an intelligent candidate.

n/t

as stupid...even if they are.. :)