"Democracy doesn't put the smartest and best qualified into power. Do you really believe that Obama or Palin are the smartest and most qualified to run the USA?"
I don't know what the future, and in particular, the 2012 American Presidential Elections, hold in store.
But I DO know one thing: With the election of Obama (100% supported by the the most racist 12% of the population and the welfare-raised and inner-city school "educated" electorate) the bar was set so low that even the most skilled Jamaican limbo dancer could not get under it.
When it comes to who the President (or for that matter the Prime Minister of Canada) should be, it is not the degrees and the accolades that matter. It is common sense and how they connect to the people.
That would get the right candidate the confidence 49 out of 50 states, and let the 50th "elect" someone like Al Franken.
Admittedly, there is a bit of chronological inconsistency here. But you know what I mean.