During a question and answer session after a speech in London on Wednesday, Gov. Scott Walker declined to answer a direct question about whether he believes in evolution. You may remember Gov. Walker is visiting England in a blatant attempt to accumulate some semblance of foreign policy experience on a four-day trade mission.
Watch for yourselves.
Of course it’s no surprise Gov. Walker chose to “punt” on answering a question about evolution, because he’s made it a hallmark of his career in politics not to take positions on issues that might cost him votes. One good example of Gov. Walker’s unwillingness to risk taking an unpopular position that might hurt his electoral chances would be his refusal to take a position on the proposed Menomonee Indian casino in Kenosha until after he won reelection in 2014.
Maybe he can go back to college, major in evolutionary biology, and kill two birds (or as they used to be known, dinosaurs) with one stone.
Democrats have to be careful of going after Walker for lacking a college degree, its sort of like Republicans going after Bill Clinton for having trouble in a marriage.
That said punting on evolution brings up competency issues with the public. Voters want a candidate that is decisive, not aloof.
At the end of the day this trip might help Walker if his foreign policy credentials are aimed at winning the Iowa Caucus, but I do not see this playing well in New Hampshire or other coital states to win the Republican Nomination.
I agree. A lot of right leaning voters are inclined to think the fact that “he didn’t need a fancy college degree” is an admirable trait. Bringing up his lack of a college degree too much will make the Democrats look “elitist”.
Yes “he didn’t need a fancy college degree” does make the Democrats look “elitist”. Roughly a little over a quarter of the country has a bachelors degree and the numbers are less with many of the minority groups that are part of the Democratic Core Constituency that need to turn out for Democrats to win elections. A lot of people do not mind if our candidate has a college degree, but they are not going to vote for that candidate just because they have a degree.
Remember Caddyshack “The thing is really do you want to go to college?”
Going to college is a choice and has a lot to do with income status you were born into and if your parents went to college. The fact is a large portion of people who start college end up not finishing for a variety of reasons just like Scott Walker. Its along the same lines as many people who have had trouble in their marriage identifying with Bill Clinton when Republicans went after him in the 90’s.
Totally agree with you. The fact is, there are plenty of other very legitimate reasons to criticize Governor Walker, rather than bringing up part of his life from over 25 years ago. Bringing up his college life isn’t going to resonate with voters. Bringing up how he wants to de-fund public education, maintain the current low minimum wage, remove environmental safe guards, give corporations carte blanche, and has rejected economic development in his own state, will definitely make for a winning case.
Sad that Walker won’t stand up for science. His base fears what they don’t understand and he could do some real good by turning these types of questions into teachable moments.
I disagree with John Nichols and the comments here that we shouldn’t go after him for his lack of college degree. To me that smacks of timidity and adherence to some idea of fair play that our opponents simply ignore time and again. Do you honestly believe that any Democratic Presidential candidate could run without a college education? How about a woman or person of color from either Party? Heck no. They couldn’t even run without a Master’s minimum. There is absolutely a way to message this across audiences in various ways that doesn’t create a sense of elitism. Rather than not do it, Democrats should strive for a more sophisticated strategy – when the time comes. For now I think Jeb Bush knows exactly how to message this to his supporters. It’s a big, big deal that Walker lacks the discipiline and focus to complete an undergrad degree at a mid-tier school.