How stupid is the American electorate?

[Filuwaúrdjan]

I think what you all need to understand is that most ordinary people are not stupid (no more stupid than people who follow politics closely - or indeed politicians and political operatives themselves - anyway). There is a rational basis behind almost every vote cast in a proper election.

The issue is not - and is never - stupidity, but ignorance. And that word is not meant as a term of abuse; it is a perfectly justified ignorance. Most ordinary people do not follow politics at all; they only really tune in when elections loom and even then they don't follow the campaigns in the way that we do. Which means that rational decisions are often founded on deeply inaccurate assumptions, producing election results that might seem like the result of stupidity (even if the aren't) to the politically obsessive.