America’s “Stupid Quotient” appears to be on the rise, again. Some have long said it’s directly related to the “Good Ol’ Boy” phenomenon. Now it appears we’re seeing the “Hockey Mom” effect.

It’s always been there but in numbers small enough to ignore. Then along came George Bush. The SQ-index surged and hovered near the 50% range during the 2000 elections, dropped off a little, then climbed back up into that area again during the elections of 2004.

But, in recent months, those numbers have shrunk down into the low-30’s range. Were people finally waking up? A feeling of glee swept the land. Then along came Sarah Palin:

(CNN) — A national poll of people who watched the vice presidential debate Thursday night suggests that Democratic Sen. Joe Biden won, but also says Republican Gov. Sarah Palin exceeded expectations.

The CNN/Opinion Research Corp. said 51 percent of those polled thought Biden did the best job, while 36 percent thought Palin did the best job.

But respondents said the folksy Palin was more likable, scoring 54 percent to Biden’s 36 percent. Seventy percent said Biden was more of a typical politician.

Both candidates exceeded expectations — 84 percent of the people polled said Palin did a better job than they expected, while 64 percent said Biden also exceeded expectations.

On the question of the candidates’ qualifications to assume the presidency, 87 percent of those polled said Biden is qualified and 42 percent said Palin is qualified. (emphasis mine)

36 + 54 + 84 + 42 = 216 / 4 = 54%

With those numbers, it looks like the SQ-index has surged back up. Lord help us.