All Republicans need to realize that if they become a serious contender for the presidential nomination, they can expect lots of dirt-digging, followed by heavy media scrutiny. In recent days, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker became the latest to be examined under the mainstream media’s liberal microscope. They have uncovered the fact the governor was a few credits short of a college degree.
Walker lashed out at the “elitist” critics who attacked him for not having a degree. Appearing on Fox News’ “The Kelly File,” the potential Republican presidential candidate defended himself after liberal commentators attacked him for failing to finish his final year at Marquette University in Milwaukee.
Walker told Megyn Kelly, “That’s the kind of elitist, government-knows-best, top-down approach we’ve had for years. I’d rather have a fighter who’s proven he can take on the big government interests and win. I think people want to judge what you have done lately.”
The governor added that President Barack Obama, who has a degree from Ivy League Harvard University in Massachusetts, “has done a lousy job running the country for six years.” He added that his own sons will receive college educations, but “You don’t have to have that to be successful.”
Also joining the attack against Walker was failed presidential candidate, former Vermont Governor Howard Dean, who literally questioned Walker’s intelligence on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” His opinion stunned those gathered for the segment on the show.
Dean pontificated, “This is a particular problem for Scott Walker which has not been an issue yet, but it will,” said Dean. “Scott Walker, were he to become president, he 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?”
It is no secret that Walker, if elected president, would be the first president in the White House without a degree since Harry Truman, who served from 1945-53. The mini-debate was addressed by Deroy Murdock, of the National Review Online, who said that even without a college degree “Walker has done a good job as Wisconsin’s governor.”
Murdock added, “Wisconsin’s state deficit was $3.6 billion when Walker arrived. It’s now a $517 million surplus. On his watch, unemployment plunged from 7.7 percent to 5.2 percent. Chief Executive ranked Wisconsin No. 41 among states in which to do business when Walker took office. It’s now No. 14.”
Whether Howard Dean knew that Walker was technically a senior, he nevertheless made it appear the governor had never laid eyes on a college classroom. Walker had not earned enough credits to get his degree on time. He was 34 credits short of a degree when he left Marquette.
Dean received a medical degree from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in 1978, but that didn’t save him from the spectacular meltdown in his stock after “The Dean Scream.”
For the Republican candidates to be successful, they must learn to ignore the mainstream media that has a tendency to attack any GOP candidate who begins to acquire serious poll numbers. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie can attest to that with his ongoing problems in the “Bridgegate” scandal. Others who have been attacked as they climb in the polls are Dr. Ben Carson (anti-gay accusations) and Rand Paul (anti-vaccination jabs).
