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Originally Posted by Bri
It kind of depends on what you regard as smart. A high intelligence is a nice bonus but not exactly the most important asset for a politician. People skills or social intelligence matter more imo. Especially now in a time where communication with the voter happens through short exposure in a fragmented mass media.
I'm convinced the skill set of a used car salesman is probably the most usefull for politicians. It's about finding out what the voter wants to hear, charm them, build some trust and then sell them something not quite working as advertised. Those same skills are usefull in fundraising. The other factor for succes is to be able to network and build alliances effectively. You can't make it to the top alone. It's not surprising that business and law are the dominant backgrounds in politics, as professional succes in these areas require the same skills you need for politics.
People with a background in fields like the sciences or medicine are trained to be independent specialists, able to work on their own or in small teams. People need more raw intelligence to make it to the top in these fields but they are far less experienced playing the political game then those who have spend most of their professional life honing their skills. In essence the current situation favours individuals who excel at selling themselves but are unlikely to be good at doing much else.
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Depends what you consider the actual duty of a politician is. Is it to get elected, or to be a good statesman? The car salesman tack is unavoidable in modern politics and is thus pretty much necessary if you even want a shot. But is it really a relevant skill in BEING a politician, or does it offer no aid beyond the election?