Are the American people as a group intelligent enough to pick a qualified president?

[milestogo]

I have to say that many people who vote in presidential elections would say shockingly stupid things if you asked them why they were voting for someone.

30 votes, 0 passes | Time left: Unlimited
	Yes we are
	18 (60%)
	No fucking way
	8 (27%)
	Robb is a dingbat
	2 (7%)
	Who you looking at?
	0 (0%)
	OTHER
	2 (7%)
	0 DU members did not wish to select any of the options provided.
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[Arger68]

1. Yes, but we are handicapped

by the electoral college

[myohmy2]

2. nope...

...but we're going to do it anyway...

...

[dchill]

3. Possibly barely under current conditions.

[Freethinker65]

4. Yes, if we all voted.

[WarGamer]

5. clearly 50% of the population isn't.

[Septua]

8. Right...

And 50% of American people "as a group", spoils the entire group.

[elleng]

6. Uncertain.

Propaganda overtaking good sense.

[treestar]

7. Generally yes

they picked Hillary. It was the EC that let the Orange Menace have the win.

[Progressive dog]

9. What better way to pick a President

would you suggest?
The American people might do a better job if the electoral college did not exist, but our system of government has survived for a long time and actually has gotten more democratic over time.

[ProfessorGAC]

10. Didn't They In 2020?

And, '12, ,08, '96, 92?

[GoodRaisin]

11. Yes we are, but it's close.

There are an awful lot of stupid people and ignorant people that vote.

[DontBelieveEastisEas]

12. Were we intelligent enough to do so in 2016 ?

It's not just the USA.

Anytime everyone gets a vote, the majority can easily pick an unqualified president.
With our current system, it doesn't even take a majority to pick an unqualified president.

[Quixote1818]

13. Ask me that again in one year. nt

[ChoppinBroccoli]

14. I Said Americans Weren't Intelligent Enough To Govern Themselves After 2004

When millions of Americans lined up and voted for the worst President in the history of this country (at the time). My faith in America was shaken to its very core after that election. I was quite literally inconsolable for the better part of a week.

The fact that Donald Trump got one single vote (and is currently the Republican front-runner) proves the point I've been making for a long time now: About 90% of Americans are so dumb that I don't know how they find their way home at night.

[moondust]

15. qualified?

I think 2016 clearly demonstrated that it's a crapshoot.

[LudwigPastorius]

16. Back when there used to be a smidge of integrity in the national press,...

the reporting of actual facts helped to make up for the ignorance of a large swath of the voting age populace.

But, instead of Walter Cronkite and Huntley-Brinkley, we've now got people getting their "news" from FOX, Pitter, YouTube, TikTok, or the voices in their head.

[Johonny]

17. We used to be

But how the fuck is Trump even leading anything. Fool me once . . . It's embarrassing that this fool is going to win the primary again.

[milestogo]

20. Exactly

It points to the incredibly bad judgment of a very large number of people.

[mainer]

18. I am so depressed

I am beginning to think we’re doomed by the lowest common denominator.

[chouchou]

19. Ronald Reagan, George Bush (s), Richard Nixon, Herbert Hoover

Most Americans (Somewhere around 60 percent) can't even pass an American citizenship test.
Look at the South and you'll see some of the most idiotic walking bags of ignorance possible.
If it wasn't for the intelligent, pretty-damn-savvy individuals (also in the States), we'd be quarantined from
the rest of the world.

[aeromanKC]

21. The American People are 6-1 in picking the most qualified person running for President in the last 30 years.

Unfortunately we are hamstrung with an archaic election procedure instead of by the majority of the popular vote.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

22. It's not the people who choose, but rather the people they choose.

Regardless of political affiliation, does anyone truly believe that out of several hundred thousands of qualified people in the United States, only George W. Bush and Trump rise to the top? They aren't even fit to pick up a hammer and hand it to Jimmy Carter.

Bush was the guy you'd want to have a beer with. Trump is a cult leader and mob boss who rules his followers by fear -- either of what he or his followers will physically do to them, or fear of The Other, i.e., non-white non-Christian, non-English-speaking evil vermin that only he can protect us from.