The question is: Is Mike Pence dense? There seems to be substantial evidence this is so.

[NinaS]

Mike Pence: Sarah Palin Without The Charisma
It is too amazing to be true. Donald Trump charged Arthur Culvahouse, the same DC lawyer who vetted Sarah Palin, with vetting his VP choices.
And Trump has ended up picking Sarah Palin, without the charisma.

One source who used to work as a senior staff member in the House of Representatives told me, “Pence, smart? I used to eat salads at the Rayburn cafeteria that had more brains than Mike Pence.”
That certainly fits Mike Pence.

Mike Pence who, in 2001, still was seriously trying to claim that cigarette smoking wouldn’t kill you, writing “Time for a quick reality check. Despite the hysteria from the political class and the media, smoking doesn’t kill. In fact, 2 out of every three smokers does not die from a smoking related illness and 9 out of ten smokers do not contract lung cancer.”

“Indiana GOP to Trump: Take Mike Pence, Please!”

 

[Deleted member 21794]

Liberal Democrat calls Republican candidate dumb.

Gee Nina, that's SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO original!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

 

[Arkady]

Liberal Democrat calls Republican candidate dumb.

Gee Nina, that's SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO original!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

If the GOP would go back to nominating smart candidates, it wouldn't be such a tired point.

 

[Deleted member 21794]

If the GOP would go back to nominating smart candidates, it wouldn't be such a tired point.

Yes maybe the GOP can really aim high and go for Joe Biden intelligent, eh? Or how about this guy?

 

[NinaS]

Liberal Democrat calls Republican candidate dumb.

Gee Nina, that's SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO original!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Can you point out anything he's done that isn't dumb? Or can you address the thread? If not...vamoose.

 

[NinaS]

If the GOP would go back to nominating smart candidates, it wouldn't be such a tired point.

Yeah but, are there any? Maybe he's just the norm.

 

[Deleted member 21794]

Can you point out anything he's done that isn't dumb? Or can you address the thread? If not...vamoose.

Yes, he's beaten many Democrats.

Also:

His Committee assignments in the U.S. House included: Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on Middle East and South Asia (Vice Chair); Judiciary, Subcommittee on the Constitution (Vice Chair), and Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition, and the Internet.

In June 2006, Pence unveiled a plan he describes as "no amnesty immigration reform", consisting of increased border security, followed by strict enforcement of laws against hiring illegal aliens, and a guest worker program. This guest worker program requires potential participants to apply from their home country to government-approved job placement agencies that match workers with employers who cannot find Americans for the jobs.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Pence

 

[Arkady]

Yes maybe the GOP can really aim high and go for Joe Biden intelligent, eh? Or how about this guy?

Yes, it would be excellent if the GOP aimed their sites to the Biden level, or better yet the Obama level. Then all we'd have to complain about is a meaningless occasional stutter. Sadly, they're a far cry from that right now.

 

[Deleted member 21794]

Yes, it would be excellent if the GOP aimed their sites to the Biden level, or better yet the Obama level. Then all we'd have to complain about is a meaningless occasional stutter. Sadly, they're a far cry from that right now.

HAHAHAHA!!!! Yeah, Joe Biden is really smart! ROFLMAO!!!!

 

[NinaS]

Yes, he's beaten many Democrats.

Also:

His Committee assignments in the U.S. House included: Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on Middle East and South Asia (Vice Chair); Judiciary, Subcommittee on the Constitution (Vice Chair), and Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition, and the Internet.

In June 2006, Pence unveiled a plan he describes as "no amnesty immigration reform", consisting of increased border security, followed by strict enforcement of laws against hiring illegal aliens, and a guest worker program. This guest worker program requires potential participants to apply from their home country to government-approved job placement agencies that match workers with employers who cannot find Americans for the jobs.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Pence

So 10 yrs. ago he was smarter than he is now. Good job!!!

 

[Arkady]

Yeah but, are there any? Maybe he's just the norm.

Unfortunately, the party has gone so far off the deep end for so long that most anyone who was an intelligent Republican has either moved out of politics or died or moved out of the party. GHW Bush was a smart man. Same with Bill Weld. William Cohen. Lincoln Chaffee. Arlen Specter. Etc.

To be fair, Romney is reasonably smart (albeit morally loathesome) and remains a Republican. Ted Cruz, too, is smart (and reprehensible). But the new model is generally along the Donald Trump/Sarah Palin/GW Bush/Ronald Reagan/Marco Rubio/Rick Perry line.... telegenic imbeciles. Even the ones that get treated like thought leaders on the right (Paul Ryan, Newt Gingrich) are generally just a really dumb person's idea of what a smart person is like, rather than the genuine article.

 

[Deleted member 21794]

So 10 yrs. ago he was smarter than he is now. Good job!!!

Well, you might be on to something there. I certainly can't imagine you being any less intelligent last year or ten years ago.

 

[NinaS]

HAHAHAHA!!!! Yeah, Joe Biden is really smart! ROFLMAO!!!!

Unfortunately, the party has gone so far off the deep end for so long that most anyone who was an intelligent Republican has either moved out of politics or died or moved out of the party. GHW Bush was a smart man. Same with Bill Weld. William Cohen. Lincoln Chaffee. Arlen Specter. Etc.

To be fair, Romney is reasonably smart (albeit morally loathesome) and remains a Republican. Ted Cruz, too, is smart (and reprehensible). But the new model is generally along the Donald Trump/Sarah Palin/GW Bush/Ronald Reagan/Marco Rubio/Rick Perry line.... telegenic imbeciles. Even the ones that get treated like thought leaders on the right (Paul Ryan, Newt Gingrich) are generally just a really dumb person's idea of what a smart person is like, rather than the genuine article.

Note that GHB Bush was against the Iraqi invasion in 2003. His eldest son should have listened to him. I think the republicans have made a hero out of Reagan because they were sold on him because of his "star" quality...the same reason they liked the ignorant Palin.

 

[NinaS]

Well, you might be on to something there. I certainly can't imagine you being any less intelligent last year or ten years ago.

And I can't imagine you having the capability to 'THINK" so guess we have a mutual admiration society of two here. I admire you as much as you admire me.

 

[Deleted member 21794]

And I can't imagine you having the capability to 'THINK" so guess we have a mutual admiration society of two here. I admire you as much as you admire me.

Of course, the difference is I am superior to you.

 

[Deleted member 21794]

Note that GHB Bush was against the Iraqi invasion in 2003. His eldest son should have listened to him. I think the republicans have made a hero out of Reagan because they were sold on him because of his "star" quality...the same reason they liked the ignorant Palin.

Thanks for reminding everyone that Hillary voted for the Iraq war.

 

[Arkady]

Joe Biden is really smart!

Agreed.

There are some decent tests of intelligence you can use to get a sense for a politician's intelligence level. One is the politician's socioeconomic roots. Rising to the level of a major politician isn't that big an accomplishment if the route was paved with a famous name, family connections, and a lot of unearned money, but for someone born into the working class, like Biden, it's quite impressive. Educational attainment is also a key. Again, if a person was socially promoted through a nameplate school on the basis of daddy being in a position to donate a building, or at least keynote some functions, that's meaningless. But if the person earned his way into and through a highly competitive school based only on his own abilities, that means something.

There's also testing -- although we don't normally know the SATs or IQ test results of presidents, if they got certain kinds of professional certifications, that tells us they can't be too stupid -- for example, did they pass the Bar Exam or the medical boards? Generally, you'll notice that the dimmest members of the aristocracy don't tend to opt for law school or med school (or they try for it and aren't even admitted), because that requirement to actually pass a high-stakes tests opens up both the dimwitted aristocrats and the schools that admitted them to ridicule (remember JFK Jr. failing the bar exam repeatedly?) Instead, they usually go to business school, where there's no risk of ever being forced to show they learned anything -- they can just slide through two years and then get out and capitalize on daddy's business connections, no matter how incredibly stupid. Sure, they'll drive companies into the ground, but people eager to curry favor with their fathers won't mind financing their bungling that way.

So, even if it weren't for the intelligence of Biden's analysis and his writing, I'd be pretty convinced he's bright just based on his background.

Granted, the conservative parties are always going to be at a bit of a disadvantage when it comes to fielding smart candidates, simply because really smart people are less attracted to conservatism. There's a reason that people with doctorates tend to lean left. Liberals are generally ahead of their time. As Twain put it, the radical of one century is the conservative of the next. Those with the ability to think a step or two ahead of the conventional wisdom, arriving at conclusions that the foot-dragging masses won't get to for generations (women's suffrage, ending slavery, and so on) are just not likely to be conservatives. That, too, points to Biden's intelligence. His political career started in the 1960s, but he doesn't have to apologize for the kinds of regressive politics right-wingers from the era have hanging about their legacies (opposition to civil rights measures, etc.) He had the intelligence to understand the path of justice before it was clear to most people. And he did the same on marriage equality decades later -- beating Obama, among others, to the punch on that one.

 

[as seen on tv]

I don't think pence would be my first choice to debate Hilllary or Elizabeth warren.

but he'd be my first choice to follow the law, tell the truth, and act ethically.

 

[Deleted member 21794]

Agreed.

There are some decent tests of intelligence you can use to get a sense for a politician's intelligence level. One is the politician's socioeconomic roots. Rising to the level of a major politician isn't that big an accomplishment if the route was paved with a famous name, family connections, and a lot of unearned money, but for someone born into the working class, like Biden, it's quite impressive. Educational attainment is also a key. Again, if a person was socially promoted through a nameplate school on the basis of daddy being in a position to donate a building, or at least keynote some functions, that's meaningless. But if the person earned his way into and through a highly competitive school based only on his own abilities, that means something.

There's also testing -- although we don't normally know the SATs or IQ test results of presidents, if they got certain kinds of professional certifications, that tells us they can't be too stupid -- for example, did they pass the Bar Exam or the medical boards? Generally, you'll notice that the dimmest members of the aristocracy don't tend to opt for law school or med school (or they try for it and aren't even admitted), because that requirement to actually pass a high-stakes tests opens up both the dimwitted aristocrats and the schools that admitted them to ridicule (remember JFK Jr. failing the bar exam repeatedly?) Instead, they usually go to business school, where there's no risk of ever being forced to show they learned anything -- they can just slide through two years and then get out and capitalize on daddy's business connections, no matter how incredibly stupid. Sure, they'll drive companies into the ground, but people eager to curry favor with their fathers won't mind financing their bungling that way.

So, even if it weren't for the intelligence of Biden's analysis and his writing, I'd be pretty convinced he's bright just based on his background.

Granted, the conservative parties are always going to be at a bit of a disadvantage when it comes to fielding smart candidates, simply because really smart people are less attracted to conservatism. There's a reason that people with doctorates tend to lean left. Liberals are generally ahead of their time. As Twain put it, the radical of one century is the conservative of the next. Those with the ability to think a step or two ahead of the conventional wisdom, arriving at conclusions that the foot-dragging masses won't get to for generations (women's suffrage, ending slavery, and so on) are just not likely to be conservatives. That, too, points to Biden's intelligence. His political career started in the 1960s, but he doesn't have to apologize for the kinds of regressive politics right-wingers from the era have hanging about their legacies (opposition to civil rights measures, etc.) He had the intelligence to understand the path of justice before it was clear to most people. And he did the same on marriage equality decades later -- beating Obama, among others, to the punch on that one.

Blah blah blah... Joe Biden is a drooling idiot.

 

[Caroljo]

So 10 yrs. ago he was smarter than he is now. Good job!!!

Maybe if you bothered to read about him, you would see what he stands for. But then, he's against just about everything liberals are for, so of course you're going to say he's 'dense'. What I've read, he's a pretty smart man and has either accomplished, or tried to accomplish things that conservatives are for. He's done a lot more than Obama had before he became President. He won every election since 2000 with a very large majority each time. I like what I've found out about him so far. I'm sure liberals are going to hate him. I think Trump picked a good man.