our naked emperor

Over the last four years, I've heard many people ranging from pundits to acquaintances make the assertion that George Bush could not be as stupid as some people purport him to be and still have made it to the office of the presidency. Since I don't know the man, I won't presume to declare him either a genius or one who is intellectually challenged, but I would like to ask those defenders of the presidential cognitive abilities one question. Why not? Stupid people often rise to the top in other fields of endeavor in life, why should politics be any different?