Pointy Head?

This little article from CNN is pissing off my inner egghead.

Julian Zelizer asks in a commentary column if Obama being an intellectual will hurt him in November.

Excuse me?

There is a big question that hangs over this presidential campaign: Will a majority of voters give their support to the presidential candidate who is the intellectual in the contest?

Barack Obama has all the credentials of the famous "pointy-headed" intellectuals in the Democratic Party who have traditionally gone down to defeat.

He has degrees from Columbia University and Harvard Law School, he taught at the University of Chicago, and, yes, he even wrote his own books. In speeches and debates, he has bombarded voters with detailed arguments about public policy. When his character is attacked, his instinct is to respond with facts and figures.

First off, when did this become a big question? I must have been in a mini-coma, because I don't recall any serious discussions around this. Secondly, after 8 years of Bush bragging about being a "C" student and seeing the subsequent carnage that entailed, I think it's about time that someone wraps some "facts and figures" around the decisions he makes, much like the rest of us do in our jobs. Cost-benefit analysis, anyone?

I tire of those who require those with intellect and drive to somehow pass the "likable enough to have a beer with" test (for more, read my Dinner and a Stooge post of Oct. 11). I want the President to be as smart as possible, and I'd like him to surround himself with people of equal brilliance. Governing from the gut in the GOP style (ridiculed by Stephen Colbert, by the way) doesn't cut it, as we've seen.

Let's allow the smart people to take over for a little while. Please?