I've always found it interesting how people- scientists included (who should know better)- always come back to the viewpoint that Neanderthals were "less than" the Cro Magnon that replaced them. Of course, the same arguments were used against Africans and Native Americans to support the "natural" supremacy of the European invaders. But since we can't put neanderthals through a series of "intelligence tests", we can only speculate on differences in intellect. After all, these guys managed to survive several hundred thousand years in ice age conditions and were spread through a fair sized geographic area... no mean achievement.

As a biologist with training in both ecology and evolutionary biology, I'd be more inclined to use reproductive success as the deciding factor. Homo sapiens breed like proverbial rabbits... and considering how both species used the same resources/niche, the newcomers out produced the locals.

Something the Grand Old Party of old white guys is scared will happen to them because of the increasing number of "minority" people percentage wise in the US.