I've heard more than one Democrat claim their party is intellectual and wonky and that's why they have difficulty communicating with your average voter. Kind of a critique hidden in a boast. But it had me thinking: Is this true? Is the Democratic Party the party of ideas and intellectuals? Hmmm.
The Left does have a stronghold in academia and Democrats do gather a larger portion of the college-educated vote. But does that make them wonky and intellectual? First, I don't believe that academia has the intellectual rigor it used to. Academic standards have greatly decreased. A college degree doesn't mean you've thought vigorously about policy issues. There is superficiality in academia and in all honestly, it can be found in many of our institutions. So it is hard for me to find this as s sufficient argument to claim the Democrats are the party of the intellectuals.
Now let's look at the Democratic leadership, are they more intelligent than their Republican counterpoints? I don't think so. Both parties speak in superficial talking points. I don't find offering more "free" stuff to the public as something that takes incredible talent or acumen. In fact, if anything it probably takes some acumen to explain to the taxpayer what would be deleterious of effects of new programs/spending. As I said I find both parties pretty superficial. I can't recall a speech by Bush, Obama or Trump that had any serious intellectual heft. They ALL think we are stupid.
Maybe the Left makes more reasonable arguments? I find this unpersuasive as well. When so many of their arguments can be summed up by; if you don't agree with me you're a racist, sexist, homophobic, etc. So many debates are shut down by Leftist by saying, "You have no say in the matter because you're not in a historically oppressed group." I don't find that compelling.
Another argument I hear is that conservatives tend to be more religious and that's anti-intellectual. I would like to refute that. Practicing religion is not only a spiritual endeavor but an intellectual one. Religions teach about ethics, justice, and existential questions. I don't know under what basis you can argue that a religious person has thought less about important issues than a secular person since they literally meet on a regular basis to cover an array of serious topics. While superficiality has leaked into American religion just it has in our politics and academia, I wouldn't automatically say it is devoid of intelligence.
Again, I find it hard to believe that the Democrats are just too dang smart for their own good. Not that intelligence is of huge value; I just wanted to reflect on this claim.
