Richard Dawkins, author and evolutionary biologist, on the presidential election process;

Any other organization -- a big corporation, say, or a university, or a learned society -- when seeking a new leader, will go to immense trouble over the choice. The CV's of candidates and their portfolios of relevant experience are meticulously scrutinized, their publications are read by a learned committee, references are taken up and scrupulously discussed, the candidates are subjected to rigorous interviews and vetting procedures. Mistakes are still made, but not through lack of serious effort.

The population of the United States is more than 300 million and it includes some of the best and brightest that the human species has to offer, probably more so than any other country in the world. There is surely something wrong with a system for choosing a leader when, given a pool of such talent and a process that occupies more than a year and consumes billions of dollars, what rises to the top of the heap is George W. Bush. Or when the likes of Rick Perry or Michelle Bachmann or Sarah Palin can be mentioned as even remote possibilities. 

You can read the entire article at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/on-faith/post/attention-governor-perry-evolution-is-a-fact/2011/08/23/gIQAuIFUYJ_blog.html

It does make you stop and think.  Many of our "best and brightest" want nothing to do with politics.