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Scott Walkers lack of College Degree.

Is Scott Walkers lack of a degree an issue

  • Yes, I dont take orders from some quitter

    Votes: 13 21.0%

  • No, he has enough real world experience to do the job

    Votes: 43 69.4%

  • Somewhat, I would like to see him finish.

    Votes: 6 9.7%
  • Total voters
    62
  • Poll closed .
nota bene said:
And at he end of the day, numbers are only numbers. I think making a huge deal out of degrees is dumb.
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Agreed. In the long run, while a degree might help you get your foot in the door employers are more interested in experience.
 
Walker has demonstrated that he has the education, chops, instincts, and skill set to get things done. He can recruit good people and manages well. And he has demonstrated some solid values and a lot of common sense. So his lack of a degree doesn't bother me as to whether he is up to the job.

What does bother me is how much it could effectively be used by his opponents to convince a gullible and less-than-savvy public out there that he just isn't up to the job? And would that make him unelectable? They've already been persuaded to vote for Obama twice over imminently more qualified candidates. Media manipulation and hard ball campaigning has a terrible effect on people who make no effort to think for themselves.

So far the Democrats haven't put up a single name that I would even consider voting for, and certainly Walker, if he was the nominee, would get my vote. But I do think a lack of degree will certainly be used against him effectively.
 
ObamacareFail said:
Agreed. In the long run, while a degree might help you get your foot in the door employers are more interested in experience.
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This is true. I am one of those people with enough college hours to qualify for at least a Master's degree, but technically I have no degree. But because I was able to talk to people face to face and provide references who could vouch for what I could do, or had proved to them what I could do, and because those who hired me weren't interested in political correctness or ideology or political affiliation, they hired me. So for most of my working life I have held jobs that required degrees. One required an advanced degree.

But as I said, I worked for people who used their savvy, know how, and instincts to chose the right person for the job. In an election, we have way too many people voting who have no savvy, no understanding of what is involved in the office, no real understanding of the issues, and who just go with the pretty face, the one with the right letter after his/her name, or the one the media doesn't demonize. A mostly left leaning mainstream media would almost certainly shrug off lack of education in the Democratic candidate--they sure weren't interested in Obama's education were they. But they would make it a huge deal for the Republican candidate who lacked a college degree.
 
AlbqOwl said:
...A mostly left leaning mainstream media would almost certainly shrug off lack of education in the Democratic candidate--they sure weren't interested in Obama's education were they. But they would make it a huge deal for the Republican candidate who lacked a college degree.
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Would or should anyone expect anything else? We find reasons to bash candidates that we don't like, and reasons why candidates that we like are qualified. Both sides do this.

As far as Obama, I didn't know that there was any controversy as to whether he had a degree or not. With a lack of controversy, then there would be no reason for either party to bring this up as an issue. A degree today is pretty much the new high school diploma - it's not required, but it's certainly expected for a position of power. If a candidate has one, then there is no issue, and thus the candidates educational background may never be mentioned by the media, regardless of party, but if the candidate lacks one, then it's a fact worth mentioning, regardless of party.
 
ObamacareFail said:
Risky Thicket said:
You are mistaken. I said he attempted to volunteer for rotation to Vietnam. I did not say twice.

FNC: Bush Volunteered for Vietnam, CBS's Mapes Knowingly Omitted from Story
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What you've given me as documentation is a "he said, she said".

It's simple enough to solve as it has been from day one. I don't know about now, but back then it was difficult to do much of anything without mountains of paperwork. There was paperwork for everything - and there was always an unbelievable number of copies.

Here's how it didn't go:

Bush: Sir, Can I go to Vietnam?

Bush's CO: No, you can't.

Bush: Oh, well. Thanks, anyway.

Here's how it did go, if it happened. There was paperwork. Bush had to sign the request, as did his CO, and God knows who else. It would required signatures, copies would go to his personnel file whether the request was approved or not.

No one that I have read has ever seen a copy of the request. It doesn't exist.

What he may have done is inquired. LOL!

Further, about the same time Bush enlisted the last 102 squadron in Vietnam shipped back to the states. He would have had to retrain to another type of aircraft to fly in Vietnam. There's no record of him doing that that I am aware of.

Further, if Bush had wanted to go to Vietnam he could have gone USAF. He didn't do that.

Yes, ANG pilots did TDY tours in Vietnam. Probably there were 102 ANG pilots in Vietnam in early to mid 60's, but there were no 102s in Vietnam in by the end of 1968.
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imagep said:
Would or should anyone expect anything else? We find reasons to bash candidates that we don't like, and reasons why candidates that we like are qualified. Both sides do this.

As far as Obama, I didn't know that there was any controversy as to whether he had a degree or not. With a lack of controversy, then there would be no reason for either party to bring this up as an issue. A degree today is pretty much the new high school diploma - it's not required, but it's certainly expected for a position of power. If a candidate has one, then there is no issue, and thus the candidates educational background may never be mentioned by the media, regardless of party, but if the candidate lacks one, then it's a fact worth mentioning, regardless of party.
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Exactly. I have a number of reasons that I won't vote for Walker. None of those reasons are Walker's lack of academic credentials. I can think of no reason that might convince me to change my mind, but Walker's academic credentials are not an option in that regard either.

Even choice across the board on any candidate vs another candidate, all things being equal, I am going with the person who has better academic credentials.
 
AlbqOwl said:
This is true. I am one of those people with enough college hours to qualify for at least a Master's degree, but technically I have no degree. But because I was able to talk to people face to face and provide references who could vouch for what I could do, or had proved to them what I could do, and because those who hired me weren't interested in political correctness or ideology or political affiliation, they hired me. So for most of my working life I have held jobs that required degrees. One required an advanced degree.

But as I said, I worked for people who used their savvy, know how, and instincts to chose the right person for the job. In an election, we have way too many people voting who have no savvy, no understanding of what is involved in the office, no real understanding of the issues, and who just go with the pretty face, the one with the right letter after his/her name, or the one the media doesn't demonize. A mostly left leaning mainstream media would almost certainly shrug off lack of education in the Democratic candidate--they sure weren't interested in Obama's education were they. But they would make it a huge deal for the Republican candidate who lacked a college degree.
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Greetings, AlbqOwl. :2wave:

:agree: I can't see where a law degree would be appropriate or necessary for a Governor, since they are basically running a huge business. An understanding of basic business practices would sway me more than a law degree in that example, and State offices have attorneys to answer legal questions. An average everyday farmer probably has more business savvy than most people in DC! You can't say "oops," if you don't get the cows milked, or the crops planted, or the harvesting done before the crops rot in the field. And when you consider the dismal approval ratings of everyone in DC, and how much or little of anything useful is being done, it doesn't look like a law degree is especially noteworthy there either - with the possible exception of knowing what the loopholes in the law are! Why they can exempt themselves from laws they make has never been explained, but it's not difficult to understand the How part - because they can! That needs to be changed, because it's arrogant and unfair to the people they represent who must obey those laws!

The only reason Walker has been targeted, IMO, is because he has won several elections in spite of their efforts to demonize and defeat him. The voters felt otherwise and voted accordingly. That's life. Few of us always get our way!
 
AlbqOwl said:
Walker has demonstrated that he has the education, chops, instincts, and skill set to get things done. He can recruit good people and manages well. And he has demonstrated some solid values and a lot of common sense. So his lack of a degree doesn't bother me as to whether he is up to the job.

What does bother me is how much it could effectively be used by his opponents to convince a gullible and less-than-savvy public out there that he just isn't up to the job? And would that make him unelectable? They've already been persuaded to vote for Obama twice over imminently more qualified candidates. Media manipulation and hard ball campaigning has a terrible effect on people who make no effort to think for themselves.

So far the Democrats haven't put up a single name that I would even consider voting for, and certainly Walker, if he was the nominee, would get my vote. But I do think a lack of degree will certainly be used against him effectively.
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I pretty much agree with you, but the part in red made me chuckle. No offense intended, but I don't think there exists Dem that you would ever consider voting for.
 
SlevinKelevra said:
Yes, the world is not the simple place it was 100 years ago.

Leader needs to be able to play chess, not checkers. Ability to understand and optimize policy recommendations from scores of advisors across economics, foreign policy, science, etc ...


Now to be fair, if he actually showed intellect off the charts and didn't finish college, that would be another story. But since he hasn't....
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The purpose of a college education is to teach one to think. Clearly, Walker's evasion of the question on evolution displayed a lack of critical thinking. To be perfectly honest, college is not for everyone and there are those who have read extensively in many instances who outshine those with a college degree. Scott Walker is not one of the latter. Now I do not like Walker, but my bias against him is not shaping my opinion regarding his non-answer in Britain; Scott Walker's circumvention of the question made him look like a frightened bunny, especially since it was such a trivial question.
 
US Conservative said:
Can anybody explain why Scott Walkers education matters but we still dont have Obama's grades?
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Can anyone explain what Obama's grades have to do with anything? Of course you don't have Obama's grades. When has anyone put forth their grades except for their first job out of college. Its a pretty silly thing to be looking for, don't you thin? But you can figure them out by association as you do know they were good enough to get into Harvard Law, one of the most competitive institutions in the world. They were also good enough there for him to be President of Harvard Law Review. They were also good enough to be invited onto the staff at University of Chicago, another of the world's most competitive schools.

Walker's degree should be a non-issue, particularly with Republicans as they seem to have no use for education.
 
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radcen said:
I pretty much agree with you, but the part in red made me chuckle. No offense intended, but I don't think there exists Dem that you would ever consider voting for.
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And you think very wrongly about that because you are very wrong about that.
 
upsideguy said:
Can anyone explain what Obama's grades have to do with anything? Of course you don't have Obama's grades. When has anyone put forth their grades except for their first job out of college. Its a pretty silly thing to be looking for, don't you thin?
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Probably they were all birthers too. It's like they don't have anything better to attack obama with than "He's Kenyan!" or "His grades were lower than Walker's"

I can think of dozens of more relevant shortcomings, that are directly related to his performance in office no less, and *this* is what they bitch about
 
Risky Thicket said:
Exactly. I have a number of reasons that I won't vote for Walker. None of those reasons are Walker's lack of academic credentials. I can think of no reason that might convince me to change my mind, but Walker's academic credentials are not an option in that regard either.

Even choice across the board on any candidate vs another candidate, all things being equal, I am going with the person who has better academic credentials.
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Gets to pick a SCOTUS nominee and dozens of federal judges despite no legal training at all - one reason i can think of
 
Risky Thicket said:
ObamacareFail said:
What you've given me as documentation is a "he said, she said".

It's simple enough to solve as it has been from day one. I don't know about now, but back then it was difficult to do much of anything without mountains of paperwork. There was paperwork for everything - and there was always an unbelievable number of copies.

Here's how it didn't go:

Bush: Sir, Can I go to Vietnam?

Bush's CO: No, you can't.

Bush: Oh, well. Thanks, anyway.

Here's how it did go, if it happened. There was paperwork. Bush had to sign the request, as did his CO, and God knows who else. It would required signatures, copies would go to his personnel file whether the request was approved or not.

No one that I have read has ever seen a copy of the request. It doesn't exist.

What he may have done is inquired. LOL!

Further, about the same time Bush enlisted the last 102 squadron in Vietnam shipped back to the states. He would have had to retrain to another type of aircraft to fly in Vietnam. There's no record of him doing that that I am aware of.

Further, if Bush had wanted to go to Vietnam he could have gone USAF. He didn't do that.

Yes, ANG pilots did TDY tours in Vietnam. Probably there were 102 ANG pilots in Vietnam in early to mid 60's, but there were no 102s in Vietnam in by the end of 1968.
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Cool, i always knew he was a draft dodger (i mean, duh, he was hardly qualified for ANG and has taken every handout he could get his hands on since birth) but never bothered to look into the evidence in such detail. Thanks
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upsideguy said:
Can anyone explain what Obama's grades have to do with anything? Of course you don't have Obama's grades. When has anyone put forth their grades except for their first job out of college. Its a pretty silly thing to be looking for, don't you thin? But you can figure them out by association as you do know they were good enough to get into Harvard Law, one of the most competitive institutions in the world. They were also good enough there for him to be President of Harvard Law Review. They were also good enough to be invited onto the staff at University of Chicago, another of the world's most competitive schools.

Walker's degree should be a non-issue, particularly with Republicans as they seem to have no use for education.
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I look forward to Democrats explaining to the country - the majority of whom do not have a college degree - that if you do not have a college degree, you are either to dumb to be trusted with governance, or have no use for education :)
 
Atiya said:
The purpose of a college education is to teach one to think. Clearly, Walker's evasion of the question on evolution displayed a lack of critical thinking. To be perfectly honest, college is not for everyone and there are those who have read extensively in many instances who outshine those with a college degree. Scott Walker is not one of the latter. Now I do not like Walker, but my bias against him is not shaping my opinion regarding his non-answer in Britain; Scott Walker's circumvention of the question made him look like a frightened bunny, especially since it was such a trivial question.
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Comes off as a biased partisan assessment.


AlbqOwl said:
And you think very wrongly about that because you are very wrong about that.
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I'm sure you're right. Then again. I have yet to see you exhibit any kind of neutral or middle-of-the-road leaning. :shrug:

To be fair, you are not even close to being the most extreme person on DP, either.
 
cpwill said:
I look forward to Democrats explaining to the country - the majority of whom do not have a college degree - that if you do not have a college degree, you are either to dumb to be trusted with governance, or have no use for education :)
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Yeah. Because we really want our leaders to be as mediocre as most Americans.

Thats right- the GOP will stand tall for the principle that some college is good enough for anyone! That fancy pants education is for sissies!

Good luck with that.
 
I can't just say no? It has nothing to do with his world experience.

Leaders lead. They surround themselves with people who when directed get the results that leader is looking for. That is what you elect. I will not be voting for Scott Walker, but it has nothing to do with his education.

Here are some other college dropouts who seemed to do ok.
Bill Gates - Top 10 College Dropouts - TIME

Before you go to the link, please don't be surprised that there is 100% chance you are using a device to get there that was impacted by a college dropout.
 
Threegoofs said:
Yeah. Because we really want our leaders to be as mediocre as most Americans.

Thats right- the GOP will stand tall for the principle that some college is good enough for anyone! That fancy pants education is for sissies!

Good luck with that.
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I think I am pretty good standing on the notion that the average American is capable of self-governance. :) Enjoy spending a cycle defending elitism.
 
cpwill said:
I think I am pretty good standing on the notion that the average American is capable of self-governance. :) Enjoy spending a cycle defending elitism.
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Love how elitism is now defined as graduating college.

You're a piece of work, man.
 
radcen said:
Comes off as a biased partisan assessment.



I'm sure you're right. Then again. I have yet to see you exhibit any kind of neutral or middle-of-the-road leaning. :shrug:

To be fair, you are not even close to being the most extreme person on DP, either.
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You're quite uninformed opinion about me is both compliment and insult. :) But thanks for the compliment part I guess.

But what does it profit us to take a middle-of-the-road position between right and wrong? Between profitable and detrimental? Between reality and falseness? How is it extreme to want to elect a President with proven track record for success? When it is obvious that electing an unqualified Barack Obama has created far more problems for the country than anything good that has happened during his administration? When a Hillary Clinton has just as dismal a track record and absolutely no significant successes in anything to show on her resume? When an Elizabeth Warren is pretty much a carbon copy of he existing President in wanting to expand powers of government? When Joe Biden is Joe Biden?

Given his already impressive track record, which of these would be more likely to do a credible job in Washington than Scott Walker would likely do?

But how easy will it be for the Democrats and a left leaning media be to make him look unqualified or unsuitable because he doesn't have a college degree?
 
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