Who do you think is the most *intelligent* of our Dem leaders?

[Guaranteed]

I'm hoping this won't degenerate into a flame war- it's a positive poll, though, so it really shouldn't.

There are different ways to define intelligence, but I tend to think of it as being able to perceive and understand subtle concepts and patterns.

And this certainly is not an exhaustive list of our smartest leaders. But feel free to add your own.

[Aviation Pro]

1. Someone else....

...Bill Bradley.

[Guaranteed]

4. I voted for Gore, based on my own definition of intelligence.

There was something about his urging us- almost pleading with us- to all get behind Dean in 2004. I think his being out of politics for so long allowed him a chance to gain a very deep understanding of the way things are working now. I think he knew what was going to happen, hence the pleading.

His interviews since then have also shown such insight into our politics- the media, the war, the Republican mentality in general, etc. He just seems to be dead-on in all of his opinions.

[A Simple Game]

8. I agree.

"I think his being out of politics for so long allowed him a chance to gain a very deep understanding of the way things are working now."

So true, when you are in a forest you can see the trees, but you have to get out of the forest to see what it looks like as a whole.

[LiberalFighter]

34. I had to make it a tie between Gore & BC

Gore screwed up with Lieberman as his running mate.

If he runs and wins election and wins again then I will put him ahead of Bill.

[JohnnyLib2]

2. 1 vote for Bill Clinton -- knowing full well that

his intelligence is demonstrated, in part, by his partnership with HRC.

[Dervill Crow]

3. I chose Al Gore.

So many brainy people listed in this poll, but looking at Al Gore now compared to six years ago, he seems to have really come into his own. That has to count for something in the way of smarts.

[Iris]

33. yes. It was good to vote for him again!

[TriSec]

5. Kerry

Far and away the most "intelligent". Ask us who has the most common sense?

That's really an unfair question. Each Dem has his strengths and weaknesses...Bill might not be the "smartest" per se (he's still a genius, don't worry) but he has that magical appeal to the people. Al Gore has the Intelligence too...but never had that human touch that Bill did.

I'd be able to sit and talk with Sen. Kerry all day about ANY SUBJECT, and I get the impression that he'd know something about it. But being able to convey that to me without that air of superiority? Able to connect to the common joe?

No, that doomed his campaign. Then he betrayed us all when he conceded.

[zulchzulu]

16. I guess you don't know about Carville telling his wife little secrets on Election night

If you're familiar with Woodward's recent "State Of Denial", he mentions how Carville got wind that Kerry was going to protest the vote in Ohio due to there being 250,000 provisional ballots. Carville whispered that into his wife's ear (I assume you know who she is) and the Bush-Cheney campaign team told Ohio Sec. Of State Ken Blackwell, who released the only 180,000 or less were there.

That made the margin less than could be used to win the state...hence the concession. Kerry didn't less us down; the Democratic Leadership let us down (as well as Carville, Bush, Cheney...)

[GOPBasher]

6. I think Gore is. n/t

[Montauk6]

7. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

[Hippo_Tron]

9. Jimmy Carter, followed by Bill Clinton and Wes Clark

[Buzz Clik]

10. Dianne Feinstein

[snowbear]

11. Definitely the 4-star General !!

Graduated from Hall High School with a National Merit Scholarship

West Point, Bachelors degree, U.S. Military Academy, graduated valedictorian

Oxford University/Magdalen College
-Masters degree in Politics
-Masters degree in Philosophy
-Masters degree in Economics - Oxford University/Magdalen College (Rhodes Scholarship)

Attended the Armor Officer Basic Course in the Army Armor School at Fort Knox until October 1968, and Ranger School at the U.S. Army Infantry School at Fort Benning until December.

Commanded A Company of the 4th Battalion, 68th Armor, 82d Airborne Division at Fort Riley, Kansas.

May 1969, Lieutenant Clark was called to duty in the Vietnam War.

February 1970, then age 25, Clark was shot four times by a Viet Cong sniper. He had injuries to his right shoulder, right hand, right hip and right leg. He managed to shout commands to troops, who launched a counterattack and defeated the enemy force. He was awarded the Bronze Star and Silver Star. The citation for his Silver Star said of the event.

Flown back for rehabilitation, Clark was told by doctors that his injuries would leave him with a permanent limp due to the large amount of muscle loss to his right calf. The young officer taught himself to walk again and to play the piano. Clark went on to receive perfect scores on his physical fitness tests.

From May to September 1970, Clark commanded C Company, 6th Battalion, 32d Armor, 194th Armored Brigade at Fort Knox; from October of that year to May 1971 he commanded the 1st Battalion, 77th Armor, 4th Infantry Division at Fort Carson.

He spent that June and July in Washington, DC as a Staff Officer in the Modern Volunteer Army program, working as a Special Assistant to the Chief of Staff.

Clark was promoted up the line from Captain, to Major, to Lieutenant Colonel, to Colonel. He graduated from the National War College and Command and General Staff College, as well as completing Armor Officer Courses, Army Ranger and Airborne schools.

From 1975 to 1976, Clark was a White House Fellow and served as a Special Assistant to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget. Later, he was an instructor and Assistant Professor of Social Science at West Point.

etc.. etc.. yada.. yada.. brag.. brag.. And that's the highly abbreviated version..



~~~~

[jen4clark]

21. Yup. Clark.

Gore a close 2nd.

[Leilani]

25. How many languages does Wes Clark speak?

Also, when he graduated from West Point the requirements were much more difficult than now.

All the Service Academies graduated ONLY Engineers.

Now students can major in Liberal Arts.

[haypops]

36. 4 I Think

I think Wes Clark dabbles in four languages. I voted him the most intelligent. I do think Gore and Bill clinton are stellar intellects too. Perhaps the real question is what 10 Republicans could take these three on?

[Auntie Bush]

12. Wesley Clark

Smartest one of all West Point graduates!

[Indiana_Dem]

13. They're all smart in different ways.

It was down to Clark and Gore with me. Clark definitely with those degrees, and it showed up in a speech I heard him give...I think it was during the Democratic convention. It was phenomonal. I also think Kerry and Obama are very intelligent to have gone through the schooling they have. Bill is as well but moreso in a business sort of way.

I chose Gore because of all of the experiences he's gained in office as Rep., Senator, and VP. Then his ability and passion to share knowledge of science is beyond any of the other ones mentioned. His respect for the finite physical world as our home seems to surpass the other types of intelligences found in the others.

[semass]

14. Barney Frank!

[Guaranteed]

15. Yeah, his name came up in my mind.

So did Al Sharpton and Russ Feingold. There were only so many slots, though. :shrug:

I left one open in case someone really obvious came up.

[slackmaster]

31. Barney Frank was the first name that came to my mind

:toast:

[Orangepeel]

17. Bill Clinton or maybe Russ Feingold

Feingold was smart enough to read the patriot act, at any rate.

[AtomicKitten]

18. Clinton's Achilles heel was Monica which wasn't too bright.

Very disappointing for such a brilliant man. So the title goes to Al Gore.

[nickshepDEM]

19. No brainer

Big Dawg, hands down.

[lumberjack_jeff]

20. Bill, followed by Hillary, followed by Dennis. Brains aren't everything. n/t

[wiley]

22. Rankings

Fell free to switch the numbers around. The rank doesn't really matter.

10. Ranked tenth only because he won't ever run for President. Intelligent enough to save us all from the quicksand of partisan excess. For decades. Ted Kennedy

9. Barack Obama. Way too smart to let on how intelligent he really is. Has lots of charisma and he knows how to use it. Smart enough to know how he can help this country at this time. Still, he's tied with Martin O'Malley as far as I'm concerned. But they both get a 9.

8. Al Gore. A brilliant visionary with atypical speech patterns. Like watching a dubbed foreign movie - but it's all there

7 and 6. Rahm the man. Having a street fight or serving a cold dish of revenge? You want this Democrat in your corner. He has no peers and he knows no fear.Really intelligent. Tied with Dr. Dean, who has a real physician's brain and a solid sense of self worth. He's rarely wrong about what needs to be done, and he's smart enough to think years ahead of other Democrats. Resistance is futile. He will be known as one of the greatest things to ever happen to the Democratic Party, as will Rahm.

5. Barney Frank - His comments the other night in the House on "flounder exceptionalism" were brilliant. Legislative genius.

4.Dennis Kucinich - In a country filled with people
deep enough to understand the layers of his words and their implications he would be known as the Senator whose every word was hung upon. He can distill an issue and present its' ramifications with a skill that is unmatched. In a hundred years, he would easily be the President of the world. This country just can't handle him, yet, and he speaks way too fast for mere mortals.

3.Hillary Clinton is razor sharp smart, no question. She's also wise enough to know her weaknesses in politics and how people perceive her. She probably has the smarts to get elected President, but all kinds of people want to put her in her place because she is a woman who can play the big ego boys reindeer games. Even the smartest man can really be stoopid.

2.Big Dog has the wisdom and savvy of a person who has learned more than he ever knew he would. More intelligent than any living Republican. Bill is the untouchable Democratic figure with feet of clay, a heart of gold and more useful experience and advice than any other Democrat living.

1.Wes Clark is brilliant in several ways, with both operational and administrative intelligence, and a profound knowledge of humanity. Has the creds to be a renowned academic scholar,or economist or environmentalist or civil rights lawyer. He has the heart of a true populist. You hurt, he understands and has suggestions. He is hated by right wing theorists and neo-cons and those who just never had the skills to make it as far as he did. Little boy sized chickenhawk elite ruling class prognosticators would rather die than accept him as their leader. Hopefully, they won't have much say in who the next President is going to be. Wes Clark should be elected President.

The two obvious missing people would have a really hard time describing what original ideas they ever had. The other may be intelligent, but puts people into a comalike sleep when he speaks. That's not very smart.

[Tinksrival]

23. Nice! I like!

:thumbsup:

[wiley]

24. Charmed and Charming, I'm sure.

[sutz12]

26. Had to go with Gore...

with Kerry a close second. Those two, I rank highest on my definition of 'intelligence.' This is more in an academic sense, although I think both do well on applying their intelligence to real world problems.

Clinton was arguably the best politician of the 20th Century. So he's tops on my list of 'political intelligence.'

I'd give Wes Clark the nod on a basis of 'street smarts' practical kind of intelligence. Military men tend to be realisitic problem solver types, though they often suffer from too much honesty about how situations on the ground really are. That kind of thing doesn't sell well to the media.

[Larry Allen]

27. Dennis Kucinich

Dennis Kucinich, at least if you take a look at his most recent behavior. He has proposed a Paper Ballot amendment to HAVA. He has proposed cutting off funding for the occupation of Iraq. Now if we can get him interrested in Thom Hartmann's law that would abolish corporate soft money. The point is that at a time when other Democratic leaders seem to be ignoring or making war on the base of voters that just put them in office, Dennis Kucinich is busy trying to enact the will of the people. I think this is very smart thing for a politician to do. Although Kucinich may currently seem very far from the D.C. establishment, so are the American voters.

[dogman]

28. Clark with out doubt.

Add common sense and he moves further up the scale.

[Clark2008]

29. Sheer intelligence? Wesley Clark. Hands down - no one

else comes close.

In the ability to learn department? Al Gore.

Gore wasn't the smartest cookie in the world in school, but he is obviously intelligent enough to learn and grow and reason. Something the current "leader" doesn't have.

[Guaranteed]

35. Kick nt

[Vidar]

30. Kucinich.

[Infinite Hope]

32. Gore n/t

[IndianaGreen]

37. Tough poll... they are all smart

The issue is who has exercised better judgment?