Voter Intelligence

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said today that "Democrats continue to underestimate the intelligence and memory of the American voter." He might be right. A stronger argument, however, could be made that lately, the Republican Party has assumed either that the American voter has no intelligence or that an intelligent voter wouldn't support their positions, because they have done very little appealing to intelligence. Failing to actively denounce those who question the President's religion or citizenship is not an appeal to logic, it is a hope that this fear and anger, left unopposed, will work in their favor. Talking of death panels and homosexuality in the health care debate is not an appeal to intelligence, it is a blatant appeal to fear. Talk of big government, without any real detail, is not a strategy developed with the supreme intelligence of the American people in mind. Promises not to raises taxes in the midst of massive budget shortfalls, coupled with promises to continue programs that cost money, is just a lie. Is lying to someone how you show appreciation for their intelligence? Of course, given the choices we have made, I suppose you can't blame the Republicans. They actually have the smarter approach. Why underestimate someone's intelligence, when you think you can depend on it.