In a recent article, Paul Krugman essentially called the entire Republican Party stupid. Questioning the intellect of Republican candidates is par for the course for the Democratic Party. Whether it is Perry, Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachman, or Dwight Eisenhower, Democrats have consistently attacked their opponent’s intelligence. The decades and names change, but the charges remain consistent. However, the attacks contain a tinge of elitist bigotry, as they do not level the charge against every Republican equally. Democrats spare “elite” Republicans of the sophomoric assault on their IQ. Instead, they attack based on different criteria. Presidential campaigns demonstrate the differences most clearly.
In the postwar era, the Democratic Party has consistently attacked Republican presidential campaigns for their lack of intellectualism. In 1952, they lambasted General Eisenhower for his simple-minded approach to America’s problems. They continued this line of attack throughout his administration. The left accused him of not being intellectually curious and being a puppet. As records from his administration become more readily available, it has become clear that Eisenhower was intimately involved in policy down to the smallest detail. This man defeated Nazi Germany’s “Fortress Europe” and managed inter-service rivalries between the Allies. The American people did not believe the charges and would have elected Eisenhower to a third term if they could have.
Like Eisenhower, 1964 Republican Nominee Barry Goldwater suffered from attacks on his intelligence. He did not believe in the New Deal, so the Democrats believed he was an idiot. The Johnson campaign also portrayed Goldwater as an extremist warmonger. Goldwater played into this caricature at the Republican National Convention when he declared, “extremism in defense of liberty is no vice.” This comment validated the Johnson campaign’s themes. One leftist magazine sent questionnaires to over 12,000 psychiatrists asking about Goldwater’s fitness for the presidency. Nearly 1200 declared the Republican unfit to serve. Ironically, Johnson led the nation into the Vietnam War.
Vietnam and Barry Goldwater were not LBJ's only targets. President Johnson also turned his guns on House Minority Leader Gerald Ford. His insults served as the basis of attacks on Ford’s person later on. Ford questioned Johnson’s handling of the Vietnam War leading the president to quip that the minority leader played “too much football without a helmet.” He continued this line when he claimed Ford could not “fart and chew gum at the same time.” The press picked up on this thread when Ford became president. On top of this, Ford fell down the stairs descending from Air Force One reinforcing this view. Saturday Night Live’s Chevy Chase portrayal of Ford as a clumsy idiot cemented this thesis within the public’s consciousness. SNL would not devastate a politician with such efficiency until Tina Fey mocked Sarah Palin.
Ronald Reagan challenged Ford for the 1976 Republican Nomination. He lost, but returned to win the nomination and the presidency in 1980. Reagan drove the left insane. They continually attacked Reagan’s intellect because they did not agree with his policies of low taxes, less government, and peace through strength. His success fed the attacks to a fever pitch. For most of his presidency, they portrayed him as a well-meaning, grandfatherly idiot. Iran Contra proved the one exception. During the scandal, Reagan's critics transformed from the president from an idiot to a criminal mastermind. Once again, SNL successfully lampooned this transposition with a skit in which Reagan alternated from a doting grandpa to a Don Corleone figure. Reagan’s charisma and success neutered Democratic attacks. Despite this, he remains vilified amongst a certain subculture while respected by Americans at large.
George W. Bush tried to use Reagan’s legacy to help win the 2000 campaign. Almost from the beginning, his opponents attacked his intelligence. Bush had a habit of mangling the English language. His mother claimed the president was dyslexic. Whatever the cause, the left latched onto this with vicious attacks. For eight years, the critics accused him of being a dumb puppet. Part of the vitriol stemmed from his two election victories. Much of it derived from policy differences accentuated through a propaganda machine more determined to undermine and insult the president than deliver truth to its consumers.
Bush, Reagan, Ford, Goldwater, and Eisenhower had more than party affiliation in common. All five men were outsiders. Bush was a born again Texan, Reagan was the leader of the New Right and former Democrat, Ford came from the Midwest, Goldwater hailed from Arizona, and Eisenhower emerged from Kansas and went to school at West Point. Bush’s Yale credentials could not gain him access to the elites. Moving to Texas served as a renunciation of his background. Perry, Bachman, and Palin all share the outsider status. On the other hand, Mitt Romney does not. Romney is a party insider and east coast elite. If he wins the 2012 nomination, the left will not target his intelligence. Instead, they will focus on his “weirdness”, which is code for his Mormon faith. It is a way for bigots to be bigoted without looking like bigots.
Republican candidates considered “elite” avoid the “stupid” label. Richard Nixon graduated third in his class at the Duke University School of Law, served in congress, and was vice president for eight years. People knew he was smart and competent. As a result, they attacked his character. Opponents targeted Nixon campaign tactics, campaign funding, and even his looks, but not his intellect.
George H.W. Bush graduated from Yale and spent the 1970s in government service. Despite being from Texas, he was really an east coast blue blood. Bush served as ambassador to China, chairman of the Republican National Committee, ambassador to the U.N., and CIA director. In 1980, he became vice president and he spent eight years in that role. When he ran for president in 1988, the Democrats attacked him as an out-of-touch blue blood that was born with “a silver spoon in his mouth.” They continued this line of attack in 1992.
Four years after Bush’s defeat, Bob Dole won the Republican Nomination for president. Dole was a classic Midwesterner. However, he was a Washington insider by 1996. Voters elected him to the House of Representatives in 1960. Eight years later, he rode anti-Vietnam discontent into the Senate. Few knew more about how Washington worked than Dole. His keen mind shone through in interviews and sometimes his Midwestern style came off as mean. As a result, the Democrats attacked him for being a grinch-like curmudgeon. After the election, he appeared on The Tonight Show and practically performed a standup act. Jay Leno asked where the “funny Dole” was during the 1996 campaign. In truth, it was always there, but the press rarely showed it to the public.
Twelve years after Dole’s defeat, the G.O.P. nominated another well-respected insider. Senator John McCain of Arizona spent twenty years in the Senate building a presidential resume. The media and left loved him and often quoted him to support their arguments until he won the Republican Presidential Nomination. Once McCain became the nominee, they portrayed him as a crazy old Vietnam veteran. This played into stereotypes against the aged and an image of veterans that dated to the early 1970s. It also served as a nice contrast to the young, inexperienced Democratic nominee, Barack Obama. Interestingly, Obama's own speech impediment combined with his failure to turn the economy around has people questioning his intelligence.
Republicans are often attacked for being dumb by their opponents. However, some are spared this line of attack because it would not work. While Eisenhower, Ford, Reagan, Goldwater, and George W. Bush were viciously attacked for being stupid, Nixon, George H.W. Bush, John McCain, and Bob Dole were not. Those not attacked immunized themselves through years of insider service. On the other hand, the outsiders lacked these credentials, which opened themselves up to the assaults.
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