OK, to clarify: I'm not referring to academic achievement. Our current President graduated from Harvard Business School, not that that makes him a genius either.
I'm talking about political acumen and knowledge of foreign and domestic policy. If you want examples of presidential candidates who actually had that kind of smarts, think George H.W. Bush, on paper, probably the most prepared-for-office presidential candidate this country ever had. Think Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, Richard Nixon, and JFK. Think our founding fathers.
Obama has already displayed an almost alarming lack of foreign policy expertise. Witness his confusion about the Arab-Israeli conflict, his choice of Joe Biden as his running mate, and his refusal to accept McCain's townhall-style debate challenges (think Lincoln-Douglass). Unless he proves otherwise, I'll have to think the analysts who say he's vulnerable away from the teleprompter are correct.
To be clear, I hate McCain too. He's what us real conservatives refer to as a RINO (Republican In Name Only). I had supported Fred Thompson, by far the most politically intelligent out of all the candidates in either party, and a true conservative to boot - but fat lotta good that did me.
As citizens, the most important things to do in an election year are: 1.) give a damn, 2.) get as much information as we can from as many sources as we can, 3.) sift through the lies to find the few truths that really matter, and 4.) go out and vote.
All you FactCheck users are way ahead of 90% of people in this country who turn on the TV and believe everything they hear on the news, and I applaud you for that.