Big news this morning from the Boston Globe. During the campaign John Kerry had consistently refused to release his records from Yale University, along with his records of...well, just about everything. Today, however, we understand why: his grades were on par with--if not actually somewhat lower than--those earned by George W. Bush.
The transcript shows that Kerry’s freshman-year average was 71. He scored a 61 in geology, a 63 and 68 in two history classes, and a 69 in political science. His top score was a 79, in another political science course. Another of his strongest efforts, a 77, came in French class.
Imagine that.
The Globe is actually a little too generous with Kerry, particularly in light of the left’s repeated "Bush is stupid" mantra. This is the second time that the Democrats have run a campaign based primarily on insulting the intelligence of their opponent, while simultaneously running a candidate who was not particularly intelligent and who was, in fact, a worse student than Bush.
How many times did we hear the same ridiculous comparisons when Bush was running against Al Gore? Bush was dumb, a partier; Gore was the nerd who always raised his hand, blah, blah. This is the exact same thing they did last year with Kerry, and there is not a grain of truth to either of these fairy tales. Here’s the Washington Post’s recounting of Gore’s alleged academic prowess:
In his sophomore year at Harvard, Gore’s grades were lower than any semester recorded on Bush’s transcript from Yale. That was the year Gore’s classmates remember him spending a notable amount of time in the Dunster House basement lounge shooting pool, watching television, eating hamburgers and occasionally smoking marijuana.... He received one D, one C-minus, two C’s, two C-pluses and one B-minus, an effort that placed him in the lower fifth of the class for the second year in a row.
So what did the Democrats follow up with? A guy with five Ds and a lower average than Bush. This does not seem like the kind of record one would expect from the nominee of a party that resorts to "Bush is stupid" as their response to nearly every situation.
Glenn Reynolds has also pointed out the interesting fact that Kerry’s underwhelming 77 in French came after he lived in France.
Other interesting facts from that article you linked to, Moe:
"Gore arrived at Harvard with an impressive 1355 SAT score, 625 verbal and 730 math, compared with Bush’s 1206 total from 566 verbal and 640 math."
So, Gore trounced Bush on that test by 149 points (total), 59 points in the verbal, and 90 points in math.
And Gore’s IQ, as measured in his freshman and senior years?? 133 and 134. Wonder how Dubya compares to that?
I guess this just proves that most of the people who run this country are stupid.
James, I take no consolation in the fact that Gore is smart but fails to apply himself. Nor do I believe his SAT scores are particularly relevant to what I said in the prior comment, which is that the spin on Gore, circa 2000, was false. He had terrible grades and failed out of multiple grad schools, but his supporters (1) pretended that he was a brilliant student, while (2) simultaneously dismissing Bush as a purported moron. I distinctly recall his supporters asking, in reference to Bush, "Can’t we at least get someone with a B average?" My point, which you do not appear to dispute, is that you should not ask that question if the candidate you support had a C average.
More to the point, however, I am not trying to prove that any one of these three is smarter than the others. I was pointing out the hypocrisy of the "____ is stupid" mantra, a staple of the left’s political rhetoric at least as long as I have been alive, which just seems to be passed on from one prominent figure to the next with no regard to its accuracy or the relative lack of accomplishments of those spewing it.
So, for future reference, here are my points. First, debate substantive issues rather than hurling childish insults at your opponent. Second, if you are unable to do that, and insist on relying on "Bush is stooopid," nominate someone who did not fail five of the eight classes he took at Vanderbilt Divinity School.
Wait a minute--so your hero Al Gore got good test scores and has an IQ in the 130s, but got lousy grades anyway? What does that tell us about his character?
Man, a years of good economic growth under a popular president, the backing of the entire Democratic establishment, running against a "dumb" guy who enjoyed only lukewarm support from his base, and he still lost. I think that’s the only IQ test that matters in politics.
Next time I need someone to invent something like the Internet, I’ll call Al. Until then, his services are definitely NOT needed.
Moser - Who said Gore is their "hero?" I certainly did not.
Moe - Who was trying to offer you "consolation?" I didn’t even know you were hurting in some way.
I neither nominated nor voted for Gore, so save your tips "for future reference" for someone else.