Serious question for Americans in OD

I’ve heard that one of the strikes against Obama and Biden is that they seem too interlectual. I’ve heard that one of the things that Bush Jr. had going for him and that Palin has in her favour if she runs for President is that they seem like people you can have a drink with.

My question is simply this: what the frak is it with the apparent national obsession with your leader being like that? I’m not being facetious, I genuinely want to know. It’s been bugging me for a while.

For example: Brian seems like a nice guy. I probably would be able to have a couple of drinks with him and shoot the shit (or argue about the state of Scottish football). But if I was hospitalised tomorrow and told I needed my appendix out, I wouldn’t want him. I’d want a damn surgeon.

Over here, one of the biggest cries is to get Vince Cable into the cabinet. Hang the fact that he’s not a member of the Labour party, he seems to know what he’s talking about (dude predicted the current global economic situation and the MP expenses scandal) and so he should be in a position to do something about it.

So, why is it apparently different in the States? Don’t you want the smartest person in the room leading you? Don’t you want someone who at least appears to know what they are talking about? I’m not asking to wind people up.

Will

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