Originally Posted by Relentless

Yes, actually it DOES show they are smart. More than half of a politicians job is picking people to be involved in crafting their messaging. The guy who picks great people and crafts a great message IS doing the job well. The guy who doesn't is not doing his job well.

Presidents (all of them) know less than 1% of what they would need to know to operate the country. Smart ones are the ones who pick people who do know the specifics of the role they are intended to fill. You don't want a President who knows everything... you want one who picks the right people who each know the specific things they need to know about what they are asked to do.

Bush picked an idiot to run FEMA and it was tragic when Hurricane Katrina happened. He also had some terrible speech writers (that's his fault more than theirs). Bill Clinton had some excellent writers. Being able to see the difference and do the hiring is important.