Scott Walker doesn't have a college degree.

[Mordecai]

No, because as I have said (but you didn't acknowledge clearly), there are other things to look at other than education, like experiences in their career.

So then why couldn't you do that first instead of looking back several decades to see whether or not they graduated from college?

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No, you exclusively relegated education to having attended college, which I'm saying is inaccurate.

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I never said that though. I said that the primaries would filter out the duds and ensure "Average Joe" wouldn't get anywhere near the nominations for the two major parties. You also forget the role that the media plays in picking up gaffes.

[pbrower2a]

At one time one excused people without diplomas if those people had dropped out to meet some family need not of their making (such as the death of a breadwinner father in an industrial accident). Such might still be excused for immigrants who so did in another country due to economic distress in the family. We have Social Security Disability and Death payments to make dropping out of high school unnecessary.

The GED is now considered the equivalent that anyone can seek at some time in adulthood if one did not complete conventional high school.  About everyone is expected to have two or three spare hours in a week to dedicate to getting a GED if such is necessary.

People drop out of college for many different reasons. One is that one is simply not college material and finds the effort not worth it. One is that parental aid dries up or that one's family goes into distress. A college dropout is still generally more valuable to an employer of low-skilled employees because one often shows some intellectual refinement that distinguishes one in some menial jobs.   

[Link]

Even if we were to grant that this reflects poorly on Walker (and I don't think it does), many Presidents have done things in their youths that wouldn't exactly make them role models (notably drug usage). Obama's cocaine usage should have disqualified him, right?

Lol!  Wut?

What planet are you living on?  No US president is going to get dinged on the world stage simply because he tried a little nose candy when he was a teenager.

The other thing is we know details about that because President Obama wrote about it at length in an autobiography that sold tens of thousands of copies.  The president did something.  He took proactive steps to rectify it.  And he came clean about it in an autobiography.  In addition he had a very public struggle to kick the nicotine habit.  He's been very open about substance use and breaking the habit.  You honestly think that has anything to do with Scott Walker's behavior?  Walker has never honestly and directly addressed this rather bizarre deficit.  A bunch of people have come into this thread and tried to help him out but if he really did have a hard luck story he would have told it.   That's not the type of thing politicians keep private.  Something happened.  You don't go to school for four years full time most of the time and end up with 90 something credits.  And you don't leave college in the 1990s for a marketing job.  I have never heard of someone doing something like that.  Leaving to start a multibillion dollar internet company... yes.  Leaving for some BS low level marketing job?  Who's buying this?

[Nichlemn]

Even if we were to grant that this reflects poorly on Walker (and I don't think it does), many Presidents have done things in their youths that wouldn't exactly make them role models (notably drug usage). Obama's cocaine usage should have disqualified him, right?

Lol!  Wut?

What planet are you living on?  No US president is going to get dinged on the world stage simply because he tried a little nose candy when he was a teenager.

And they shouldn't, and don't, which is good.

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lol at your talk about his "behaviour" and "bizarre deficit", as if not getting a college degree is some kind of criminal or scandalous action.

Why does he need to rectify it? People go to college to learn, to get the college experience and to get a job. Walker did all three. The only thing he didn't get was the physical diploma. You don't have to think college is a waste of time to recognise that the actual diploma doesn't mean that much, and is mainly a signal to get your first job.

Is Bill Gates suffering from a "bizarre deficit" because he dropped out of college? If he ran for office, should that be a decisive strike against him?

[Peter the Lefty]

If this is that big a deal for you, then you're basically an elitist.

Weirdly enough, I agree with Supersonic. There are a lot of reasons that make me hate Scott Walker, but this isn't one of them, nor should it be one on which he should be attacked for, imo. This country would be FAR better off if we just banned Ivy Leaguers from holding office.

Left-wing Ivy Leaguers are a necessity to public service.

[Link]

Even if we were to grant that this reflects poorly on Walker (and I don't think it does), many Presidents have done things in their youths that wouldn't exactly make them role models (notably drug usage). Obama's cocaine usage should have disqualified him, right?

Lol!  Wut?

What planet are you living on?  No US president is going to get dinged on the world stage simply because he tried a little nose candy when he was a teenager.

And they shouldn't, and don't, which is good.

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lol at your talk about his "behaviour" and "bizarre deficit", as if not getting a college degree is some kind of criminal or scandalous action.

Are you completely illiterate or did you just simply not read my post?

[pbrower2a]

Even if we were to grant that this reflects poorly on Walker (and I don't think it does), many Presidents have done things in their youths that wouldn't exactly make them role models (notably drug usage). Obama's cocaine usage should have disqualified him, right?

Lol!  Wut?

What planet are you living on?  No US president is going to get dinged on the world stage simply because he tried a little nose candy when he was a teenager.

And they shouldn't, and don't, which is good.

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lol at your talk about his "behaviour" and "bizarre deficit", as if not getting a college degree is some kind of criminal or scandalous action.

Are you completely illiterate or did you just simply not read my post?

It is not scandalous to drop out of college. If one can't get anything out of college  (even if it is 'only' finding meaning in life or finding a desirable spouse) then dropping out of college isn't so bad.  Many people find that they have a better chance in life by becoming fast-food managers than by taking the high-risk, high-reward trajectory of going for one of the more lucrative professions. Many who have spent three years majoring in early-elementary education discover that they can't stand small children and might as well become secretaries or tool-and-die makers.

Such people may not be the sorts that we want as leaders. They may be full of resentments toward degreed professionals -- which is likely to result in bad policy decisions intended to $crew such people politically on behalf of well-heeled puppeteers. Scott Walker is much like that. The problem isn't that he is 'stupid' (he likely isn't) -- it is instead that he seeks to destroy or degrade a large part of the American middle class on behalf of people who long for a return for the Gilded Age with its 75-hour workweeks and 40-year lifespans for industrial workers.

Note well that Wisconsin was long known for a good educational system that prepared youth well for a prosperous economy. Have you ever been in Wisconsin? You would not live there for the climate and the scenery. It's the sort of place where working people and the middle class must do well economically to be happy. One needs three wardrobes for the sharp seasons, good insulation in the living space, and in view of the fire-and-ice climate, adequate funds for winter heating and summer air conditioning.

Scott Walker is qualified; we are free to elect an idiot, a madman, or even a criminal to public office, let alone someone with huge flaws as a politician. In view of his beliefs he is the sort of pol who as President who would inspire riots an mass protests practically from his first day of office. If he is as abrasive toward foreigners as he is to the American intelligentsia, then he is the sort who could weaken about every alliance that America has. He would be a disaster  -- a reprise of Dubya, only worse.   

[TTS1996]

Such people may not be the sorts that we want as leaders. They may be full of resentments toward degreed professionals -- which is likely to result in bad policy decisions intended to $crew such people politically on behalf of well-heeled puppeteers. Scott Walker is much like that. The problem isn't that he is 'stupid' (he likely isn't) -- it is instead that he seeks to destroy or degrade a large part of the American middle class on behalf of people who long for a return for the Gilded Age with its 75-hour workweeks and 40-year lifespans for industrial workers.

Ha ha. First, you talked about resentment towards people with degrees as if it were a bad thing - as if policy decisions against them were ipso facto bad policy decisions. People without degrees may disagree.

Second, the GOP longs for "75-hour workweeks and 40-year lifespans for industrial workers"? Oh, of course. Here, the straw man has some other things Republicans crave:

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Oh for that gilded age again!

[Sec. of State Superique]

Well, Lula was not a great achievment =)

[retromike22]

Apparently, he wants to finish his degree:

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/254266501.html

[Randy Bobandy]

Yeah, and Rick Perry went to Texas A&M. He was a frontrunner as well.

[IceSpear]

Yeah, and Rick Perry went to Texas A&M. He was a frontrunner as well.

Didn't Perry mainly get a bunch of Cs and Ds? How...expected.

[Randy Bobandy]

Yeah, and Rick Perry went to Texas A&M. He was a frontrunner as well.

Didn't Perry mainly get a bunch of Cs and Ds? How...expected.

The least unexpected event in the massive clusterf that was the 2012 Republican primary cycle.

[Simfan34]

I'm normally the sort of person who'd say this is a big deal, but the idea that a college GPA is a better measure of leadership quality than a gubernatorial record is positively ludicrous. The inference seems to be "he dropped out of college... therefore he must be an ignoramus." Except there's no reason for anyone to conclude that is the case.

[MurrayBannerman]

Seeing as most people have to have a degree to earn a decent paycheck, I think the President should have one as well.

The presidency isn't a job for most people. If someone proves themselves qualified for the position without a bachelor's degree then it shouldn't be a problem.

[senyor_brownbear]

Seeing as most people have to have a degree to earn a decent paycheck, I think the President should have one as well.

The presidency isn't a job for most people. If someone proves themselves qualified for the position without a bachelor's degree then it shouldn't be a problem.

It's a big problem.  College is increasingly a mandatory credential in this country.  I guess GOP primary voters can look past it, but swing voters in Colorado or Virginia? Not on your life.

There is no path to the most competitive position in America without a degree.

[Mr. Morden]

Apparently, he wants to finish his degree:

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/254266501.html

He should go back to school while he runs for president.  Could make for an interesting reality TV show.

[Nichlemn]

College degrees are required not because passing your senior level philosophy exam suddenly gives you magical powers, but in a world with limited time and many job applicants, a college degree is a useful shortcut for employers. In a Presidential race, that isn't necessary with only a small number of top tier candidates.

[pbrower2a]

Such people may not be the sorts that we want as leaders. They may be full of resentments toward degreed professionals -- which is likely to result in bad policy decisions intended to $crew such people politically on behalf of well-heeled puppeteers. Scott Walker is much like that. The problem isn't that he is 'stupid' (he likely isn't) -- it is instead that he seeks to destroy or degrade a large part of the American middle class on behalf of people who long for a return for the Gilded Age with its 75-hour workweeks and 40-year lifespans for industrial workers.

Ha ha. First, you talked about resentment towards people with degrees as if it were a bad thing - as if policy decisions against them were ipso facto bad policy decisions. People without degrees may disagree.

Second, the GOP longs for "75-hour workweeks and 40-year lifespans for industrial workers"?

How would you know otherwise? That's how things were in the era of early capitalism about 125 years ago.  I see the arguments for abolishing the minimum wage, privatizing Social Security and Medicare, destroying unions so that workers can be "free" to work unpaid shifts on behalf of employers free to fire them for refusing to work those shifts.

 

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Oh for that gilded age again!
[/quote]

Nobody says anything about frock coats and top hats as evidence of corporate evil anymore.

A few people owning everything -- that's how things were in Russia a century ago. How did that work out?

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

Apparently, he wants to finish his degree:

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/254266501.html

He should go back to school while he runs for president.  Could make for an interesting reality TV show.

Robert Byrd was Senator when he finished his JD, but I think this is pretty unusual.

[Rockefeller GOP]

I'm sure in today's virulently anti-intellectual Republican party it's going to be considered a huge plus.

Considering high school dropouts vote 60%+ Dem and college graduates voted for Romney +4%, this is a really dumb comment.

[pbrower2a]

High-school dropouts aren't much of the electorate anymore.

[Cory]

Such people may not be the sorts that we want as leaders. They may be full of resentments toward degreed professionals -- which is likely to result in bad policy decisions intended to $crew such people politically on behalf of well-heeled puppeteers. Scott Walker is much like that. The problem isn't that he is 'stupid' (he likely isn't) -- it is instead that he seeks to destroy or degrade a large part of the American middle class on behalf of people who long for a return for the Gilded Age with its 75-hour workweeks and 40-year lifespans for industrial workers.

The bolded is silly. Why would someone who was twice elected a Governor of a major swing state and is talked about as being a major candidate for President hold resentment against some "degreed professional" who works as a school teacher/IT guy or something and will never have the power or connections Walker has?

If anything you'd figure they would hold resentment for him, which Link's posts suggest they do.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

This is one of those things where the only people who will "care" are the people who were never going to vote for him anyway. They might make a fuss out of it, but in truth they wouldn't care if it was their candidate and no one whose vote is actually for grabs will. Think the Bush/AWOL thing or all those non-scandal attacks against Obama in 2008 (refusing public financing, giving his acceptance speech in a stadium, etc.)

[NewYorkExpress]

We've definitely had Presidents who were worse educated and had college degrees (Bush, maybe Ford and Clinton)