Posted on 03/19/2015 6:44:42 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
What do Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Scott Walker have in common? They all changed America. And they didn’t need a college degree to do it.
On Feb. 12, Democratic former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean deemed GOP front-runner Scott Walker unfit for the presidency because he dropped out of college. “The issue is, how well educated is this guy?” said Dean on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “I worry about people being president of the United States not knowing much about the world and not knowing much about science.”
The current Republican governor of Wisconsin attended Marquette University for four years but jumped at a job opportunity his senior year, trading his chance for a diploma for a job at the American Red Cross. He was 34 credits short of earning his B.A. in Political Science.
Presidents aren’t required to have a college degree. But in the last century, only President Harry S Truman lacked one. It’s about time we had another. If Walker’s smart, he may turn this missing credential into an advantage.
The Constitution simply states that to be president, one must be a natural-born citizen and 35 years old. Arguing for constitutional ratification in the Federalist Papers, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison — writing as Publius — held experience and virtue as the most important presidential qualifications.
What Walker lacks by not holding a diploma, he makes up for with real-world experience, good character, practical education, and significant policy experience. He holds the knowledge, skills, and proven track record to be a strong contender should he be chosen as the 2016 GOP nominee. Publius would endorse Walker.
Walker launched his political career just after leaving Marquette. He was elected to the State Assembly in 1993. After four re-elections, he spent the next eight years cutting spending as Milwaukee County Executive. After reforming a corrupt county government, Walker became Wisconsin’s governor in 2011. Now in his second term, Gov. Walker has turned a state deficit into surplus and enacted labor and educational reforms.
He intended to return to school to finish those 34 credits, but life got busy: He married, had children, and ran for office. In 20 years, he went from being a college dropout to governor, all while raising a family. His story proves that hard work and determination matter.
Walker is not too different from most Americans either. According to the Census Bureau, only 31.7 percent of adults over 25 had finished college in 2013. Walker can play these stats to his advantage; he already has.
We say we want our politicians to be “just like us.” We like the idea of a president who rolls up his sleeves and eats a half-slab of ribs — an average Joe (or a plain Jane, for Hillary). But the credentials of recent American presidents show the contrary to be true. Experience tells us that the American people want a president who is extraordinary while seeming just ordinary enough. They are hardly like us.
Just look at the other potential candidates. Hillary Clinton has degrees from Wellesley and Yale; Ted Cruz graduated from Princeton and Harvard; Bobby Jindal graduated from Brown and Oxford. Scott Walker stands out among this clan of educational overachievers.
Now more than ever, a college degree has become the entry-level ticket to economic and political success, as well as an indicator of worth. The America that once prided itself on real-world experience and common sense now depends on the credentials of a slip of paper.
Walker must continue to prove his credibility in other ways to have a chance at the Oval Office. He can use his lack of a degree to his advantage by relating to the majority of American voters who did not attend or finish college. Even those with degrees may find it refreshing that the next president didn’t come from an elite class of Ivy Leaguers. He can paint himself as a blue-collar hero.
In addition to appealing to the average voter, his experience makes him a strong competitor among his peers. Since 1990, Walker has run in 11 political races — not to mention a recall election in 2012 — and has won all but one. If he can articulate a clear agenda, he can turn his dropout status into an asset as he races for the presidency.
Publius was right that experience and character are the best presidential prerequisites. When choosing the next president, Americans should consider the qualifications that matter, not just paper credentials.
Either or both is right.
When it comes to the best candidate, just list the facts, pro and con so we can all decide the level of importance of the issues.
To all: The posts on this thread are like reading middle school facebook pages.
We have to stand together to get this republic back on track. Sounds like a campaign slogan. Back on the straight and narrow is what is really needed but no one would know the reference. The straight and narrow is the only way to true joy, love, and peace but they don’t know that either.
okay ass hole, right now STFU or prove your point. Find a single post from me that is "hatred" towards Walker. Hell, find a single post that is even negative. You can't do it. You are a liar and a pathetically poor debater and a pretty poor reader too. You are scum of the internet forums.
by the way, is SickofLibs now the runaway winner of the stupid ass poster award????
He gets my vote. Today he’s been off his meds.
I may need self control classes...but you require special ed.....
LOLO
...or you could just send me your best book.....LOLOLOL
You should stop your incessant whining.
Its very undignified.
No one likes a sore loser.
Just take your beating like a man and learn from it.
you are a pigeon playing chess....you’ve no idea what you’re doing, you’re crapping the board, you’re knocking the chess pieces on the floor....but you’re strutting around shitting and acting like you did something. You haven’t laid a glove on me - because all you can do is lie about who I am and what I believe and what I’ve posted.
I can explain it to you, but I can’t understand it for you.
Here's some examples of your scholarly work
”okay ass hole”
“You are scum of the internet forums. “
Who buys your books with such six grade level writing in them?
Cartman?
Do you work at Denny's to pay your publication costs?
I don’t cast my pearls before swine....porky....
Amazon review: one sample:
1) It is accessible. Political junkies will find Wright’s take fascinating, but you do not have to be a political junkie to benefit from the discussion. All it takes is an interest in America’s recent political history, particularly the 2012 election.
2) WTF is a model of clear and lively prose. Not once did I pause at the end of a sentence or paragraph or chapter and think, “What did he just say?” Not once did I scan impatiently through a page. Wright writes with passion, conviction, and humor. He uses wit like a fencer who tags opponents at will.
3) The book lays out where the GOP has gone wrong over the last twenty years and what we need to do to get the Party and our country back before it’s too late.
And another....(there are many more....)
I bought a copy of this book from the author Edmund Wright before CPAC, and I devoured it. I cannot believe this book was written over the past few months and years. He just nailed it from start to finish, and makes complex issues so easy to understand. He also writes in an easy conversational style that really moves quickly. And some of the stories from the primary season are amazing. Get this book, and you’ll never look at politics the same way again.
This is how you get first (Kindle) and third (print) at the same time.....
This guy is nuts. He rants and foams at the mouth like a werewolf needing a silver bullet, he recently posted this at a conservative website :
”okay ass hole”
“You are scum of the internet forums. “
Please for your family and sanity keep his books away from your kids.
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