] Reviewing Clinton's My Life in the June 24, 2004,
] Los Angeles Times, neoconservative Max Boot happily
] concluded that "conservatives like character,
] liberals like cleverness." He's right. But to
] state what should be obvious, the president is not your
] father, your husband, your drinking buddy, or your
] minister. These are important roles, but they are not the
] president's. He has a job to do, and it's a
] difficult one, involving a wide array of complicated
] issues. His responsibility to manage these issues is a
] public one, and the capacity to do so in a competent and
] moral manner is fundamentally unrelated to the private
] virtues of family, friendship, fidelity, charity,
] compassion, and all the rest.

[ Indeed, Yglesias is overstating things a bit here, in my opinion. I don't think they're fundamentally unrelated insofar as truly having personal virtues will guide your hand when acting publicly. But the basic point, that intellect, the ability to grasp vast and complicated issues and the understanding of nuance and detail are more important than thinking someone's a "good guy", is sound. -k]