Too bad he wasn't there when I was an Econ major -- it would have been something of a novelty to have a professor who's to the right of Mao.
Unfortunately, he will likely lose and lose big. But he's 1000% dead-on right about the intellectual snobbery of the left.
A male Republican economics professor from Smith College.
Who would have thunk it?
I can certainly see why it was so difficult for him to get signatures in the ultraliberal Northampton/Amherst area.
"Terrorist" is what they think of anyone to the right of Kennedy/Kerry.
Although Miller has pursued political journalism for some time, his politics received national media attention two years ago when he was denied tenure. "I came home after reading two of the three opposed letters," said Miller. "I told my wife that night 'I am going to be on The O'Reilly Factor.'" Miller went to Smith's grievance council to challenge the tenure decision, claiming that he was rejected because of political bias and not because of academic motives. Smith has since granted him tenure, but Miller has appeared on conservative talk shows and published articles about the battle.
He must have made a real stink to get the Smith socialists to grant him tenure. Clearly, he proved their political bias was the cause of his initial rejection.
Intellectual diversity in higher education is one of the key issues on Miller's political platform. He describes the majority of elite colleges and universities as "politically correct country clubs that are not interested in debate, but in affirming their set beliefs," which he claims is detrimental to students' welfare.
Welcome to the Five Colleges (UMASS, Smith, Amherst, Hampshire, Mt. Holyoke), home to physics Prof. Jennie Traschen, who denigrated the American flag as a symbol of terrorism, repression and imperialism on 9/10/01. The UMASS Republicans had a signup table in the student commons, with the book "Unfit for Command" on the table, and one of the guys told me that a few professors had come over and said that the book was "full of lies, etc." Nice to have an open mind, eh?
"Students at Smith are not ready to compete in the marketplace of ideas because they are not exposed to intellectual diversity," said Miller. "They can't tell you why people would not support affirmative action ... eventually their views don't matter because they can't fight for them."
He is absolutely right, but I don't know how much headway he will make here. Godspeed to him!
A former student of Miller's, Aya Uehara '05, recalled one argument in class over affirmative action: "He was arguing with this black girl for 50 minutes. Eventually, he admitted that she had a point, though. I liked that," Uehara said.
A typical lib professor would have flunked a student in an analogous situation, with extreme predjudice.
"If you're Republican, it's uncouth." said Miller, "but it's important that one-third of Americans are conservative," said Miller. To better represent diversity of thought, Miller wants to create "The Minuteman Institute" at the University of Massachusetts. The institute will teach regular topics from a pro-American, patriotic point of view.
Desperately needed here. Should be required of all freshman, and then seniors, to make sure it sunk in!
To start off his campaign, Miller invited his opposing candidate, Democrat Stanley Rosenburg, to a debate at Smith over gay marriage. "The people, not the courts, should determine the issue of gay marriage. My opponent does not think so," said Miller. According to Miller, the Smith Democrats and Smith Republicans have agreed to host the event, but he is awaiting a reply from Rosenburg's lawyer.
I wonder why Rosenberg needs a lawyer to set up a simple debate?