Really? In truth no politician can afford to believe this and few do. They play on our hopes and fears rather than discuss wonky policy issues because they know people aren't smart. They talk about what people who are uneducated can absorb without feeling dumb. If you make voters feel dumb or bore them with speeches about issues you'll lose them.

Obama knows this. That's why he doesn't give wonky speeches about issues, preferring instead to talk about" change" and"hope"--whatever those words mean.

Worse, he certainly doesn't tell voters the hard truths they need to hear. Who wants to hear hard truths? The voters certainly don't. And Obama's not interested in telling them any.

One of the great issues of our time, for instance, is that the voters were duped by Bush and Cheney into believing that Saddam was behind 9-11. Shouldn't we be talking about that? It ranks as one of the great failures in the long history of our democracy. But no one wants to say in public that the voters should think long and hard about why they were manipulatable. We have talked plenty about the manipulators, but not about the manipulated.

So all this talk about how smart the voters are is blather. It's one more meaningless example of pandering. If the voters really were smart they'd recognize Obama's statement to Williams as the insult it really is. But of course they don't. And Obama's counting on that--as do all politicians who tell people what they want to hear.

Do I expect pols in the midst of an election to speak the truth? Of course not. But voters shouldn't fool themselves into thinking that the pols are telling them the truth. That truly would be dumb.

Here's the transcript from the NBC interview:

WILLIAMS: Due respect, Senator, I'm-- I'm not guessing you've had a lot of-- of bowling experience. (LAUGHTER) And-- but you end up with people talking about your bowling score. Gutter balls. Wearing a tie. Wearing a tie with farmers and-- how have you dealt with that? What's-- is there an operating theory that guides your life these days?

OBAMA: You know, my theory is not over think it. Because I think the American people are smarter than that. The bowling's a wonderful example. Right? You go to a bowling alley 'cause you want to go meet with a bunch of folks. And folks are lined up and they're havin' a great time and we're talking. And-- and kids are I'm singing autographs. And then some woman says,"Hey, why don't you bowl a couple frames?" And I said,"Sure, although I haven't bowled in 25 years." And I'm out there and I'm having a great time. You know? And suddenly, this becomes some big, sort of-- signifier of whether or not I'm in tune with blue-collar culture. I was raised by small town folks from Kansas. With Midwestern values. Honesty and hard work and responsibility. And so this notion, somehow, that I'm some sprout-eating, Volvo driving person, when you know, of all the candidates remaining in this race - I probably-- came from-- the toughest circumstances. Not overly tough, I don't want to overstate. But some tough circumstances-- without a father in the house. And you know, raised by people who, you know, come straight out of Central Casting of small Midwestern towns. I think it just doesn't match up with who I am.

FINAL THOUGHT: If you could sit down each voter and talk to them one on one you could probably convince them that Obama's bowling score is meaningless. But this isn't how politics works. Pols reach people mainly through the media. In a media world messages are emotional. What gets through the clutter are simple hair-trigger detonations. A bad bowling score, silly as that may seem, is one of those detonations.