It is easy to think they are dumber than a fencepost, but the offices they attain are not given away to poor, stupid folks. Money, power and craftiness are all required to get there. Either they have those attributes themselves or someone who does chooses them for the office.

I ran for several offices as a Libertarian candidate. I shared forums, stages, debates and a 1-hour state-wide television show with these characters. You would not trust the more successful ones to watch a pet dog you were not all that fond of, let alone your country and your laws.

Plausible Deniability is Rule #1. Either seem stupid, incompetent or misled when the results are less liberty, worse economy, greater violence, famine, war and other "accidents". In the end, power aggregates to the top while poverty and serfdom engulf all the rest.