Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people- H.L. Mencken

And conservatives are just so darn good at it! Such good businessmen, I guess.

Romney won the first debate. Obama was having an off night, apparently. There were plenty of opportunities for him to call Mittens out, point out his lies and faulty math; he passed up most of them. Romney was cocky, and smarmy, and full of sound bites signifying nothing... He won, but it was pretty clear to me that he expects his attitude to carry him, not facts, not issues. He talks a good game.

I think conservative politicians and pundits (and, sure, some liberal ones too) are dismissive of the American people. I think they think we are stupid, and that they can say whatever they want without fear of being called to task. And, in general, they're right. We seem, as a society, to have a very short attention span. All we know is what we heard on the news today. What the same person said yesterday is forgotten. What the facts are, what the context is, are irrelevant.

Following from that, we have no historical perspective (that is a theme I might return to...) And most really only have a 6th-grade understanding of history anyway. Which, essentially, means we don't understand life and the world, beyond what we had for lunch today. Little knowledge of American history, much less world history and culture, means we simply don't have the tools to assess serious issues.

Obama's problem, in the debate and in general, is that he assumes we're smart, and involved, that we'll think about things (and that we care enough to.) Romney plays to emotions, to shallow thinking. Obama understands the economy, social issues, international affairs better than Romney, better than McCain did, better than Bush did. Agree or disagree with his policies, during the debate at least Obama dealt with substance and fact; Romney dealt with dreams and lies.