April 14, 2008 - 9:04am
Who is New Jersey's Smartest Legislator?
By Editor
Tags: smartest legislator
PolitickerNJ.com readers get to decide who the smartest member of the New Jersey Legislature is! UPDATE: The tournament has started. Click here to vote. The PolitickerNJ.com Smartest Legislator Tournament is intended to be a contest of sheer intelligence – an online, interactive contest among readers to determine New Jersey’s most intellectually talented state legislator. This is not about political parties, vote-getting abilities, fundraising prowess, legislative achievements, or personal popularity – it’s a contest to look at the minds of the legislators. Think about their ability to reason, to solve problems, to comprehend complicated ideas, to think abstractly, to articulate their views, and to learn. Consider their personal wisdom, their knowledge, and their ability to deal with cognitive complexity. We’ve put 64 of New Jersey’s 120 legislators into four divisions of sixteen legislators. The regions are named after four truly brilliant legislators of the past: Perskie, Gormley, Wiley and DeKorte. You can vote in each of the matchups, starting with Round 1 on April 17-21 – but only once every ten minutes. Round 2 will run April 22-23, Sweet Sixteen on April 24-35, Elite 8 on April 26-28, Final 4 on April 29, and Finals on April 30. Today: a wildcard contest for the 64th slot between two members of the State Assembly –Scott Rudder (R-Burlington) and Cleopatra Tucker (D-Essex). CLICK HERE TO VOTE ON THE WILDCARD
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Quote of the Day
July 4, 2008
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed."
-Declaration of Independence, 07/04/1776
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What?
The supposition of "smart" is ironic when it comes to NJ Politicians.
Smartest?
Do you mean the the person who has the most money or became the most powerful even though they're not that bright. Clearly that makes one smart....or your degrees, famous colleges graduated from, your LSAT scores, GMAT scores, GPA, deal maker, back stabber, pay to player,???? Which criteria? There are some legislators who can't put a sentence together(written or verbal). I guess they're smart. How about being sneaky? It's clearly a skill. Lying? You should post all of the legislators education, jobs held, and criminal activities. Oh...Can we choose people from another state?
Caraballo was the smartest
Caraballo and Doria were the two smartest legislators.
Adler!
John Adler is the smartest legislator, hands down
McGreevey the genius!
"Once I was out in the world, I faced my first real life challenge: getting Virginia Jones, my kindergarten teacher to like me. I won her over handily. I remember feeling pride in my quick mastery of the alphabet and vocabulary, and I believe I also courted her attentions with polish and politeness."
Jim McGreevey
The Confession
www.redyankeepress.com
"Smart"
Being a "smart" politicial figure in New Jersey means that you didn't leave any obvious evidence for the US Attorney to find.
How do you base this on popularity?
If you go on the basis of whom people like, then you will never have a true sampling of some of the very smart minds in the legislature. It can be a freshman member or someone who has been there, but may be in the minority or perhaps doesn't talk as much as some others. This is another unfair contest by your site and in the end, you will end up swaying or picking the winner. Let me guess, Bill Baroni, since he probably came up with this.
The Honorable Aaron Burr, Vice President of the United States
Stupid Contest
How are you supposed to know whether a legislator is smart or stupid unless you work in the legislature? How is the average joe citizen supposed to know this?
"Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could only do a little."
- Edmund Burke
Doria
Doria was one of the smarter ones but he was random encyclopedia smart, not the sit down and ace the exam without studying kind of smart. For smart current legislators I think Lance is up there.
Some from the past
ChrissyJackman
Al Burstein, Alan Karcher, John Paul Doyle, John Lynch, Steve Perskie.
Lance, Adler and Vitale
Lance's fierce intellegence shows alacrity and depth. Adler's extraordinary education underscores an extremely bright individual. And although his education background wouldn't indicate it, Vitale's extemporaneous speaking and nimbleness of mind is repeatedly impressive.
Why don't you
have a meaningful contest?