Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Secret Weapon for Bush? (Bush probably had a higher I.Q. than Kerry per military records)
NY Times ^ | 10/24/04 | JOHN TIERNEY

Posted on 10/23/2004 7:52:58 PM PDT by Cableguy

Secret Weapon

For Bush?

To Bush-bashers, it may be the most infuriating revelation yet from the military records of the two presidential candidates: the young George W. Bush probably had a higher I.Q. than did the young John Kerry.

That, at least, is the conclusion of Steve Sailer, a conservative columnist at the Web magazine Vdare.com and a veteran student of presidential I.Q.'s. During the last presidential campaign Mr. Sailer estimated from Mr. Bush's SAT score (1206) that his I.Q. was in the mid-120's, about 10 points lower than Al Gore's.

Mr. Kerry's SAT score is not known, but now Mr. Sailer has done a comparison of the intelligence tests in the candidates' military records. They are not formal I.Q. tests, but Mr. Sailer says they are similar enough to make reasonable extrapolations.

Mr. Bush's score on the Air Force Officer Qualifying Test at age 22 again suggests that his I.Q was the mid-120's, putting Mr. Bush in about the 95th percentile of the population, according to Mr. Sailer. Mr. Kerry's I.Q. was about 120, in the 91st percentile, according to Mr. Sailer's extrapolation of his score at age 22 on the Navy Officer Qualification Test.

Linda Gottfredson, an I.Q. expert at the University of Delaware, called it a creditable analysis said she was not surprised at the results or that so many people had assumed that Mr. Kerry was smarter. "People will often be misled into thinking someone is brighter if he says something complicated they can't understand," Professor Gottfredson said.

Many Americans still believe a report that began circulating on the Internet three years ago, and was quoted in "Doonesbury," that Mr. Bush's I.Q. was 91, the lowest of any modern American president. But that report from the non-existent Lovenstein Institute turned out to be a hoax.

You might expect Kerry campaign officials, who have worried that their candidate's intellectual image turns off voters, to quickly rush out a commercial trumpeting these new results, but for some reason they seem to be resisting the temptation.

Upon hearing of their candidate's score, Michael Meehan, a spokesman for the senator, said merely: "The true test is not where you start out in life, but what you do with those God-given talents. John Kerry's 40 years of public service puts him in the top percentile on that measure."


TOPICS: News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: bush; iq; iqtest; kerry
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 121-138 next last

1 posted on 10/23/2004 7:52:58 PM PDT by Cableguy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Cableguy

last paragraph is confirmation. I heard Kerry had a C- average at Yale.


2 posted on 10/23/2004 7:54:45 PM PDT by Blogger (http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1249663/posts)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Cableguy

Times wrote this?


3 posted on 10/23/2004 7:55:08 PM PDT by aft_lizard (Actually i voted for John Kerry before I voted against him.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Cableguy

What the hell? I thought Kerry was TOO SMART to be president?


4 posted on 10/23/2004 7:56:49 PM PDT by Stellar Dendrite (These Commies are ruining our country...........WAKE UP AMERICA BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Cableguy

Wow! I have a higher IQ than the President of the United States! MUCH higher :)


5 posted on 10/23/2004 7:56:53 PM PDT by jmstein7 (A Judge not bound by the original meaning of the Constitution interprets nothing but his own mind.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: aft_lizard

It sure is on their web site!


6 posted on 10/23/2004 7:57:03 PM PDT by Anti-Bubba182
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Cableguy

I was going to reply to an earlier post of this article but it got pulled for some reason not stated.


7 posted on 10/23/2004 7:57:10 PM PDT by Max Combined (I gave back, I can't remember, six, seven, eight, nine...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Cableguy
The problem is not Bush's IQ. The problem is the exceedingly low IQ of the typical Democratic voter.

Comes from drinking the kool-aid....
8 posted on 10/23/2004 7:57:11 PM PDT by Death and Taxes (Bush '04)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Cableguy

Post this over at DU and watch the fireworks begin! Intelligence is about the most absolute value they have...God, Love, Country, Family all come well below (if they exist at all) over that the DU.


9 posted on 10/23/2004 7:57:53 PM PDT by Illinois Rep
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: jmstein7

Acording to the VA I do too, but I seem to have a problem with "anger" and I have to go through some therapy to work out issues.


10 posted on 10/23/2004 7:58:49 PM PDT by aft_lizard (Actually i voted for John Kerry before I voted against him.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: aft_lizard

The MSM is getting ready to turn on Kerry. They see he's a lost cause, so they are worried about their own butts now.


11 posted on 10/23/2004 7:59:01 PM PDT by ProudVet77 (Flush John 'Fonda' Kerry)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

Comment #12 Removed by Moderator

To: Cableguy
Only some leftist idiot would think that 20 years in the United States Senate is valuable and important.

"... John Kerry's 40 years of public service puts him in the top percentile on that measure."

13 posted on 10/23/2004 7:59:07 PM PDT by SittinYonder (Tancredo and I wanna know what you believe)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Cableguy
How stupid do you have to be to guess at someones IQ and believe your guess has any validity?
14 posted on 10/23/2004 7:59:33 PM PDT by Drango (NPR-When government funds a "news" outlet that has a bias...it's no longer news...it's propaganda.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Cableguy
"John Kerry's 40 years of public service puts him in the top percentile on that measure."

This is outrageous the guy did nothing but harm if will subtract his 3 years at DA office.

15 posted on 10/23/2004 7:59:49 PM PDT by alex
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Max Combined

they dont allow articles from vdale to be posted here. Dont know why but they dont.


16 posted on 10/23/2004 7:59:51 PM PDT by aft_lizard (Actually i voted for John Kerry before I voted against him.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: aft_lizard

LOL! Maybe we should find a troll to zot.


17 posted on 10/23/2004 7:59:52 PM PDT by jmstein7 (A Judge not bound by the original meaning of the Constitution interprets nothing but his own mind.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: Cableguy
"People will often be misled into thinking someone is brighter if he says something complicated they can't understand," Professor Gottfredson said.

Exactly.

18 posted on 10/23/2004 8:00:04 PM PDT by NewMediaFan (Fake but accurate)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Cableguy

Not exactly a surprise. I've always known I am much smarter than Kerry.


19 posted on 10/23/2004 8:01:05 PM PDT by jess35
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ProudVet77

They might feel like he is a lost cause, but they could be ready to drop some bombshell theory on Bush on us just in case.


20 posted on 10/23/2004 8:01:14 PM PDT by aft_lizard (Actually i voted for John Kerry before I voted against him.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-6061-80 ... 121-138 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson