Is he dumb — or just 'misunderestimated?'

Going for broke (and page hits), POLITICO poses a simple question today: Is Rick Perry dumb? "Doubts about Perry’s intellect have hounded him since he was first elected as a state legislator nearly three decades ago. In Austin, he’s been derided as a right-place, right-time pol who looks the part but isn’t so deep — Gov. Goodhair,” writes Jonathan Martin. Now that Perry has stepped onto the national stage, says Martin, a new joke is making the rounds: “He’s like Bush only without the brains.” Ouch. So is Perry dumb? POLITICO punts, saying: "It's complicated." Naturally, Salon's Steve Kornacki goes all killjoy on us, noting that the "dumb" label has actually been good for Republican presidential aspirants. Reagan was called "an amiable dunce." George W. Bush was mocked over his C student credentials. Yet both rode into the Oval Office on the shoulders of gullible voters who simply didn't care. "That ... may be a source of comfort to Rick Perry right now," Kornacki writes. Swell.