Being dumb takes courage.

Ever since the resignation of Richard Nixon, a very smart man who got caught abusing his executive power, the GOP has deliberately avoided nominating conspicuously intelligent people for president. Gerald Ford was smarter than he looked, but he was unable to dispel his buffoonish image. Ronald Reagan was famously checked out and ill-informed. George H.W. Bush, though clearly smarter than Dubya, is not exactly imposing in the brains department, and he’s demonstrated almost as much difficulty as his son in formulating a coherent sentence. And George W. Bush? Let’s just say the guy is either mentally lazy, not very bright, or some combination of these two. I’ve never felt it necessary to refine that diagnosis; the term I favor is “functionally dumb.”

from Rush Limbaugh fakes stupidity By Timothy Noah Slate.com

Interesting remarks…and it might be true.
The way I see it is that it takes certain amount of courage to let people view you as a dumb, ill-informed person. May not be courage, I should say it takes patience and self awareness even. What would you get from acting dumb, you might ask? You get publicity, sometimes you get public sympathy, and above all else, you get to be the president of the United States.