Are the politicians competent to interpret the answers?

A gentleman who was on the Republican Party primary ballot in all fifty states in 2008 and I were having a beer in 2007. He was passionate about the need for military action against Iran. When I mentioned something about the other instruments of national power, I got the "bunny in the headlights" look. When I started questioning second and third order effects of military action against Iran, I got the "bunny in the headlights" look.

Nice guy, I'd trust him to watch my kids, but I wouldn't trust him with national strategy, to differentiate between geo-political strategy and military strategy, or to assess the testimony of the officers that briefed the subcommittee.