How smart can they be? (SPOILERS)
Truthfully, I hope there is a lot more to George than we saw in this film, because in every second of this film, he's an obnoxious, disapproving, vaguely shadowy loser. Pseudo-intellectual prattle about contingency campaign plans that will proceed in an alternate universe may sound precocious now, but if he doesn't look at how he comes off in this movie and cringe he's just not human. With a campaign photo that screams, "Hello world, I'm coming out!" and a running mate who just looks at him and shakes her head (and probably wins him the election given the school's demographics -- the only real smart choice he makes), George is someone everyone in the real world takes an instant dislike to, and his talk about investing in the "American banking system" makes him sound even more idiotic in light of recent events. With an ego that knows no bounds -- he actually asked Hannah a version of his jerk bowling coach's question "Why am I a better candidate than you?", only to see her blow it up in his face like a grenade -- he's the type of personality who cannot form the interpersonal connections that are the foundation for any political action at any level. We hear countless times how smart the kids at Stuyvesant are -- and to a large degree they acquit themselves decently, though the lack of info about where anyone besides George matriculated may be telling and they would seem to be eclipsed by the students at most decent private schools -- but any political body that would elect the creep we see here can only be so bright.
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