Free Republic
Browse · Search
GOP Club
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Scott Walker’s lack of a college degree: A non-issue that Democrats should avoid
Salon ^ | Jim Newell

Posted on 02/16/2015 4:26:03 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet

There are plenty of things to criticize Scott Walker over. His lack of a college degree is not one of them.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has emerged as a modest front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination in the past couple of weeks. This may well be a temporary state of affairs. If the 2012 GOP primaries taught us anything about the presidential nominating process in the super PAC era, it’s that every candidate will be the front-runner for a few weeks. At some point this year, everyone from Huckles to Doctor-Citizen Ben Carson will serve a brief spell as the Man to Beat. No one has even launched a campaign yet, and already this year Mitt Romney and Jeb Bush have taken their turns.

Scott Walker’s numbers may oscillate over the course of the next year, but there’s reason to believe he’s the real deal. Notwithstanding the concern that he has the charisma of a nightstand, he’s an excellent candidate on paper: accomplished in enacting conservative goals and withstanding the challenges that those efforts sparked, and able to unify the social, economic and foreign policy factions of the party.

As soon as Walker’s ascendance in the early power rankings began, I’ve been expecting, though certainly not hoping, to see a particular line of attack against him bubble up. A very predictable one that makes me groan because it’s so wrongheaded. So I’d like to thank former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean — of course it’s Dean! — for being the first prominent chump, that I’ve noticed, at least, to run with it and give me this opportunity to swat it down. From Thursday’s “Morning Joe,” regarding Scott Walker’s “punt” on the theory of evolution:

Howard Dean: This is a particular problem for Scott Walker which has not been an issue yet, but it will. Scott Walker, were he to become president, would be the first president in many generations who did not have a college degree. So the issue here is not just the issue of dancing around the question of evolution for political reasons, the issue is, how well educated is this guy?

Joe Scarborough: Are you serious?

HD: I’m absolutely serious.

JS: Are you serious?

Donny Deutsch: He didn’t finish his senior year so he didn’t get all the stuff.

JS: Because he didn’t get his degree?

HD: I think a lot of people are going to be worried about this.

JS: Do you worry about people who don’t finish college?

HD: I worry about people not knowing much about the world and not knowing much about science.

JS: Let’s name the people who didn’t finish college and who have changed this world. Did Bill Gates finish college?

HD: Bill Gates is a little different. Nobody is accusing Scott Walker of having the intellect of Bill Gates.

JS: Well nobody is accusing Scott Walker of being dumb because he didn’t finish college except you.

HD: I didn’t say dumb. I said unknowledgeable. [...]

Willie Geist: And how do you know he’s unknowledgeable? He’s knowledgeable about what goes on in his state.

JS: And what the hell does that have to do with him answering the question the way he did, or were you just taking a cheap shot?

HD: Because evolution is a widely accepted scientific construct, and people who don’t believe in evolution either do it for hard right religious reasons or because they don’t know anything.

Take heed, everyone else who’s considering levying this criticism at Scott Walker, of how quickly Howard Dean is sent on the defensive, looking like a snooty liberal snob jerk. And that’s after only the most modest pushback from the likes of Joe Scarborough and Willie Geist.

This isn’t just about the “optics” of bringing up Scott Walker’s lack of a college degree, either. If there was a strong criticism to be had that ran the risk of making someone sound like a jerk by saying it, then fine. But Scott Walker dropping out of Marquette before he completed his bachelor’s degree is not a strong criticism for why he shouldn’t be president. It is meritless.

Why do people seek bachelor’s degrees? Because that’s the only way to be learned — or “knowledgeable,” as Howard Dean would say? Please. Most people who get bachelor’s degrees do so because it helps them get a good job. Some enjoy learning as much as they can, others just take the bare minimum in credits, but the goal is by and large the same: to certify themselves as employable via this imperfect credentialing process our society has settled on. If someone like Scott Walker has been able to achieve the career goals that usually require a college degree without having gotten that college degree, then more power to him. People who don’t have a college degree shouldn’t be relegated to lower-tier economic status because they didn’t spend four years as young adults reading CliffsNotes. Scott Walker was able to get a good job without finishing his degree. If only everyone could be so lucky!

(Sure, there are questions abut whether Walker’s exit from Marquette was more unceremonious than he’d like to let on. Harping on this seems like a plain-vanilla waste of time, rather than a totally obnoxious and poorly premised waste of time.)

The idea that Scott Walker says dumb things about evolution or foreign policy because he didn’t complete the second semester of his senior year at Marquette is bogus. Anyone who doesn’t think it’s bogus — or thinks it’s a good political look for liberals to mock someone for not having a college degree! — should question the value of their own formal education. Bobby Jindal and Ted Cruz, to name just two of Walker’s potential rivals, have absolutely impeccable academic credentials, degrees up to their knees, and this certainly doesn’t prevent them from saying dumb things about evolution or foreign policy.


TOPICS: Wisconsin; Campaign News; Issues; Parties
KEYWORDS: 2016election; college; election2016; ged; howarddean; nocollegedegree; paultardation; paultardnoisemachine; randpaulnoisemachine; randsconcerntrolls; scottwalker; walker; wisconsin
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-47 next last
To: bigbob
I was the first person in my high school class of 1966 to graduate from university in 1969; 3 years for a four year degree. I did so by taking 18 credit hours a semester and going to school year round, starting in summer school two weeks after graduating high school. I did so because I lived within a mile of the campus, so it was convenient and my father worked on the staff (not the faculty) at the college, so it was inexpensive with the discounted tuition.

I have to say that my business degree helped me some in of my career(s) but I learned most of what I used to make a living, from on-the-job skills and experience in varying employment opportunities. I spent the last 20 years of my work career as a self-employed owner of my own business. Could I have done it without a college degree? Maybe. But back in the era (45 years ago) when I got out of the military and starting my work career, having a college degree gave me many opportunities I would not have otherwise have had. Today, with the internet and technology, I am not sure that is true. Smarts, initiative, motivation, dedication, hard work and some luck, I think young people today may be able to be successful in their careers without a college degree. We all know people who have done well without degrees.

I think that the time for young people to get their education is when they are young, before their real lives intervene. And it gives them the discipline to accomplish something that society recognizes as important. But is a university degree required to be successful? I don't think so.

21 posted on 02/16/2015 5:21:56 PM PST by HotHunt
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: abclily

He has a degree in community organizing, doesn’t everyone?


22 posted on 02/16/2015 6:14:03 PM PST by phormer phrog phlyer
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

Real question is, has Howard Dean stopped screaming yet? Dear old Howard completed college alright and it never stopped him from being unable utter nutcase did it?


23 posted on 02/16/2015 6:18:34 PM PST by SmokingJoe ( "Ted)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

Real question is, has Howard Dean stopped screaming yet? Dear old Howard completed college alright and it never stopped him from being an utter nutcase did it?


24 posted on 02/16/2015 6:21:24 PM PST by SmokingJoe ( "Ted)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

25 posted on 02/16/2015 6:24:10 PM PST by doug from upland (Obama and the leftists - destroying our country one day at a time)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet
Scott Walker’s lack of a college degree: A non-issue that Democrats should avoid...for sure - if 'rats can push to elect a black because he or she will understand and attend to the problems of blacks most effectively, and a woman because she will understand and attend to the problems of women most effectively, why can't the 'pubs elect a non-college graduate because he or she will understand and attend to the problems of the sainted middle class most effectively?.....
26 posted on 02/16/2015 6:36:42 PM PST by Intolerant in NJ
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: onyx

Wow I had no idea an idiot could graduate from there.


27 posted on 02/16/2015 6:38:02 PM PST by windcliff
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: windcliff

Racial preferences?


28 posted on 02/16/2015 6:39:04 PM PST by onyx (Please Support Free Republic - Donate Monthly! If you want on Sarah Palin's Ping List, Let Me know!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 27 | View Replies]

To: RginTN

I see a demand for worshipping the same idols as the left does.


29 posted on 02/16/2015 6:46:54 PM PST by MrB (The difference between a Humanist and a Satanist - the latter admits whom he's working for)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: a fool in paradise

Two other idiots who did not have a college degree were Bill Gates and Steve Jobs who built two of the largest companies on the planet. What fools they were. Let’s also not forget the 8 presidents of the US who had no college degrees either. What dunderheads. If only they had gotten a degree and become “smart” like Howard Dean who inherited all his money. Then these non degreed men would have gone on to real achievements instead of just building Microsoft and Apple and becoming president of the US.

Obama got all his degrees and look at how smart he is and how well he has served this country.

Yep! Scott Walker is doomed without his degree.


30 posted on 02/16/2015 7:10:21 PM PST by GilGil
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet
  Scott Walker should ask his evolution questioners if they believe that Obama can lower the sea levels.
31 posted on 02/16/2015 7:48:11 PM PST by Maurice Tift (Never wear anything that panics the cat. -- P.J. O'Rourke)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

There is no presidential requirement for a bachelor’s degree. There is a requirement, however, for a birth certificate proving citizenship.


32 posted on 02/16/2015 7:57:32 PM PST by nonsporting
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: nonsporting

Didn’t Obama manufacture, uhm, I mean, produce one of those?


33 posted on 02/16/2015 8:03:17 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet (The question isn't who is going to let me; it's who is going to stop me.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 32 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

It was an “honorary” citizenship. Walker could get one of those. U of H would be fitting.


34 posted on 02/16/2015 8:18:59 PM PST by nonsporting
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 33 | View Replies]

To: onyx

Oh dear . . . Sheila Jackson Lee . . . the shame of the Texas delegation.

How does this nut job keep getting elected? Never mind, I know, the Houston District . . .


35 posted on 02/17/2015 6:24:45 AM PST by Qwackertoo (Worst 8 years ever, First Affirmative Action President, I hope those who did this to us SUFFER MOST!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: doug from upland

BTTT!


36 posted on 02/17/2015 6:29:34 AM PST by Jane Long ("And when thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 25 | View Replies]

To: Jane Long

37 posted on 02/17/2015 7:38:45 AM PST by doug from upland (Obama and the leftists - destroying our country one day at a time)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 36 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

38 posted on 02/17/2015 8:17:20 AM PST by doug from upland (Obama and the leftists - destroying our country one day at a time)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

Now, the Star-Belly Sneetches-
Had bellies with stars.
The Plain-Belly Sneetches-Had none upon thars.

Those stars weren’t so big. They were really so small.
You might think such a thing wouldn’t matter at all.

But, because they had stars, all the Star-Belly Sneetches
Would brag, “We’re the best kind of Sneetch on the beaches.
With their snoots in the air, they would sniff and they’d snort
“We’ll have nothing to do with the Plain-Belly sort!”

And whenever they met some, when they were out walking,
They’d hike right on past them without even talking.

When the Star-Belly children went out to play ball,
Could a Plain- Belly get in the game…? Not at all.
You only could play if your bellies had stars
And the Plain-Belly children had none upon thars.

When the Star-Belly Sneetches had frankfurter roasts
Or picnics or parties or marshmallow toasts,
They never invited the Plain-Belly Sneetches.
They left them out cold, in the dark of the beaches.
They kept them away. Never let them come near.
And that’s how they treated them year after year.


39 posted on 02/17/2015 9:38:30 AM PST by servo1969
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: 2ndDivisionVet

40 posted on 02/17/2015 2:37:37 PM PST by doug from upland (Obama and the leftists - destroying our country one day at a time)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-47 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
GOP Club
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson