re: #471 Lidane

No one ever said you had to be smart to win an election. Most of the time you just have to be pretty, rich, and well connected.

pretty? yes
well connected? yes
good old American Know-who? That’s good.
rich? here I will quibble. Those guys who wrote Freakonomics had a chapter on whether money really spoils politics. Their answer - not as much as you think. They did some brilliant statistical prestidigitation and found a sharp law of diminishing returns. All the cash in the world won’t help a bad candidate. In fact, all the cash in the world can buy you about 5% more votes than you would otherwise have with mediocre funding, iirc. So if you hate on W or Lousiana governor Edwin Edwards or that crack head in DC whose name escapes me, they got elected because of their other intrinsic traits, not money.