Why My President Should Be Smarter Than I (And Other Mid-Primary Thoughts) By Molly Hayes ‘09   I kind of hate the Presidential primaries. On the one hand, the long debate about democracy, politics, and policy can only lead to better overall understanding and more driving purpose for all three, right? But on the other hand...while I had never really put it past the 24-hour news channels to play repeated footage of Senator Obama’s horrid bowling or Senator McCain’s occasional napping, seeing it in practice was kind of depressing. The latest kerfuffle—as of this writing, as I am sure there will be a new one soon—centered around Senator Obama’s comment about small-town Pennsylvanian voters who, after years of seeing their jobs outsourced and of slipping through cracks during the Clinton and Bush administrations, unsurprisingly become bitter, clinging to religion or guns or hostility toward immigrants as a means of dealing with their frustrations. The statement itself is not what I want to address, although I will say that, while it was poorly said, Senator Obama’s point is not entirely without merit. What I would like to discuss is the nature of the responses from Senators McCain and Clinton. Both have spun the comment as proving that Senator Obama is “elitist”—political code for being superior and overly intellectual—and of course the news media leapt on it. Karl Rove’s team used the term eight years ago to describe Al Gore; obviously the tactic worked quite well. Americans don’t want someone who’s all superior and academic; Americans want someone whom they can have a cheeseburger with, right? Not so much. I can’t speak for anyone else, but personally I want my President to be smarter than I am. And last I checked, “elite” meant “the best”; isn’t that something we should probably ask of a President? The candidates are not applying to be our buddies—they are applying to lead and represent the United States of America. And if they get the job and do well, we put their faces on money and the occasional mountain. Should we not want these people to know more about running a country than we do? Is that not why we are electing them? The “elitist” jab is only one in a long list of irritatingly pandering attacks from all three current candidates. Which, in the end, is what frustrates me about the primaries: so little of it actually focuses on policy. The middle class is effectively disappearing, but, yes, please, let us discuss ad nauseam Senator McCain’s celebrity endorsements instead of his economic policy. Forty-seven million Americans are without medical coverage, but a thirty-second sound byte of Clinton getting choked up is much more important than her healthcare plans. I would like to think that the primaries’ purpose—to provoke debate and stimulate closer evaluation of each candidate—was actually being served. But after watching George Stephanopoulos ask yet another question about Senator Obama’s lapel pin, I kind of hate the Presidential primaries.