Intelligence tests for politicians -- how is that a bad idea?

Jeff Edelstein, a columnist at one of our sister papers, The Trentonian in Trenton, N.J., has put forward a proposal that all candidates for public office take an intelligence test.

Edelstein educates us about the link between something called the Wonderlic Cognitive Ability Test and the National Football League. Did you know that the NFL gives the Wonderlic test to all newcomers at the combines where players show off their football skills?

The test measures how smart you are, how good you are at problem-solving, how good your brain works. (Apparently the 49ers’ Frank Gore is dumb as a stump.)

Edelstein suggests that the Wonderlic should be standard procedure for those seeking office. Voters deserve to know if a potential leader of our government is dumb as a stump.

“We live in a democracy. We vote our leaders into office. But they’re our leaders, not our overlords. We’re pretty much their boss. That’s the way it works,” he wrote.

“But when you get right down to it, what do we know about these people we elect, these people the various local, county, state, and national political machines put in front of us? Oh sure, we can read their biographies, and yeah, we might be able to see them engage in debate and speeches and all other manner of political posturing.

“… The NFL makes its players take an intelligence test. CEOs make their employees take an intelligence test. Maybe it’s high time we made our politicians take an intelligence test. You want to run for office, you take a Wonderlic test and the results are made public. How is this a bad idea?”