Political Cortex: Brain Food for the Body Politic

In the case of Reagan there was an effort made to make him look like the poised and responsive man in the neatly tailored suit, always ready to act on the people's business and representing a sharp corporate style team.

Now the process of dumbing down has reached the point where this week, in response to the efforts by some to link Sarah Palin to the Reagan tradition, his son Ronald Junior declare that his father , if he were alive today, would assert that the former Alaska governor and Republican vice presidential candidate is unqualified to be president.

Earlier this week it was revealed that Palin in her address to the Tea Bag Movement's convention gathering that she used her hand to store ink written notes, one of which was even crossed out, in an effort to remember   points to stress in her speech.  

The question that emerged for some analysts was whether this practice demonstrated a lightweight element on Palin's part, militating against the prospect of taking her seriously as a future presidential candidate.

These skeptics can banish their concern.  After all, didn't we learn during the George W. Bush era orchestrated by political guru Karl Rove about the importance of dumbing down?  

When Al Gore in his first debate against  Bush in the 2000 presidential election demonstrated a grasp of issues and Bush did not, causing Gore to sigh several times, Bill Clinton's then vice president was likened to the youngster fellow students liked to hate because he knew all the answers.

The same type of strategy is employed on behalf of Palin.  In fact, when Katie Couric asked Palin presumed softball questions designed to draw her out in an interview, such as which newspapers she read, Palin's inability to respond prompted Republican operatives to condemn the CBS anchorwoman for engaging in ambush journalism.

The important point being stressed by those individuals practicing spin control on behalf of Palin is that she talks like "just plain folks" and can even kill and then dress a caribou, as Fred Thompson declared in a laudatory tone expressed on her behalf at the 2008 Republican National Convention.  

The trick is to build up Palin as one of the crowd, the type of person fellow students would like and could feel comfortable around compared to smart aleck Al Gore, who could respond to questions knowledgeably and was resented for that skill.