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I am going to echo what some others have said here, and say that for the vast majority of people today, intelligence isn't particularly well-regarded.
Think about famous musicians and actors/actresses. While very few of them are dumb, it is always a notable exception when one of them is actually smart like Hedy Lamarr or Mayim Bialik.
Are athletes generally known for their intellectual rigor? Even politicians are supposed to be only slightly above average intellectually, nowhere near the heights of g-loaded academic fields in most cases.
No, I think you've existed in a bubble that highly regards intelligence. It is an easy human bias: when you know you're better than everyone else along dimension X, of course you're going to want to feel superior to everyone else because of it, even if good looks, or charisma or athletic ability or a dozen other non-g-loaded traits can substitute in a pinch among the most successful people in our society.
Given the fraction of American politicians with JDs, I think they have to be more than slightly above average. (It takes an IQ of at least 110 to complete a JD and pass the bar, and the average lawyer is closer to 120). There was a study showing that Swedish politicians have dramatically above average IQs (based on the AQFT-type tests they did when drafted as 20-year-olds) - I can't find the paper any more but the press release gives a good idea of the results.
In general, I would assume that politicians are somewhat below average for the PMC, but well above average for the population as a whole.
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