William F. Buckley, Jr. apparently thinks so, citing Jerry Brown:
Everyone in the United States, it seems, has commented on the California scene. The insight of Jerry Brown warrants attention. Mr. Brown is a little screwy but very bright, and did two terms as governor. To skeptics he said: “It’s obvious Schwarzenegger is qualified. I mean, what does it take to become a governor? I’ve been there; I’ve known all the governors since Earl Warren’s time. And basically, if you have above-average intelligence, you have common sense, and you can speak in front of a camera and to a crowd, you can govern the state. I mean, after all, the governing process includes the legislature, a very competent civil service, and all sorts of rules and regulations that guide the state on its way. The whole thing about experience is a canard.”
Interesting. I admit that it is counterintuitive to think that an “outsider” could plausibly serve as governor. But it’s hardly unprecedented. Many states elect governors who have never before held political office; usually they are businessmen rather than entertainers, of course. Similarly, many people are elected to the U.S. Senate as their first political office.
As Steven Taylor, from whom I found the Buckley cite, notes:
a) government is not, nor should be, the domain solely of “professionals” and b) when one elects a chief executive, one elects a team, not just one super-genius guy.
