Oh, I'm with you that intellectuals aren't necessarily going to be an improvement on the current elected representatives. I don't know. It seems that today most elected representitives in the higher offices are (as you say) party hacks who work their way up the ranks, rather than simply the best people for the job taken from any walk of life. That's not a phenomenon unique to the US political system, I hasten to add. I mean, maybe it was always that way and I'm just being overly nostalgic. But it just seems that nowadays being rich and having the right connections is more a prerequisite for being the POTUS than actually being someone who's going to be really good at the job. (by the way, I don't mean that to be a specific slam on GWB, I think it's been that way for a long time)