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Scott Walker: Obama's Harvard Degree Proof I Don't Need One
Wednesday, February 18, 2015 08:27 AM
By: Drew MacKenzie
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has lashed out at the "elitist" critics who have attacked him for not having a college degree.
On Fox News' "The Kelly File," the potential Republican presidential candidate defended himself after liberal commentators had attacked him for failing to finish his final year at Marquette University in Milwaukee.
"That's the kind of elitist, government-knows-best, top-down approach we've had for years," Walker told host Megyn Kelly, according to Mediaite.
"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 have you done lately."
He also noted that President Barack Obama, who has a degree from prestigious Harvard University in Massachusetts, has done a lousy job running the country for six years.
Although he hopes his own sons finish their education, the college dropout added, "You don’t have to have that to be successful."
Earlier this month, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean questioned Walker’s intelligence on "Morning Joe" while discussing the GOP governor’s controversial remarks on evolution. Walker recently declined to say whether he believes in the theory during a speech in London.
"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, 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?"
If Walker were elected, he would be the first president in the White House without a degree since Harry Truman, who served from 1945-53.
But Deroy Murdock, of the National Review Online, said that even without a college degree Walker has done a good job as Wisconsin’s governor.
"Wisconsin's state deficit was $3.6 billion when Walker arrived. It's now a $517 million surplus," Murdock writes. "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."
And Vox’s Libby Nelson said there’s no reason that Walker’s lack of a degree should make him less suitable as a candidate for the White House than any other GOP hopeful.
"Higher education is more economically valuable today than it's ever been, but that doesn't mean a college degree needs to be a prerequisite for the presidency," Nelson wrote.
Although he was technically a senior, Walker had not earned enough credits to get his degree on time — he was 34 credits short of a degree when he left Marquette. Yet, the college dropout still has about three years of classes on his education resume.
"If a college degree is valuable because of what you learn along the way, Walker probably reaped most of the gains anyway," added Nelson.
