Acouple weeks ago, a crowd of conservatives held one of those tea party events in Milwaukee, the kind where they wave signs around decrying Obama's health-care reform plan and shouting words like ""socialism"" and ""death panels."" One of the speakers at this self-titled ""angry mob"" rally was Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker, who is currently seeking the Republican nomination for governor.
This brings up a number of issues, many revolving around the antagonistic and borderline threatening atmosphere of these events. I'm more concerned, however, with another issue that presented itself at the rally, one that has been bugging me ever since I saw a picture of Walker in attendance.
He was wearing a University of Wisconsin jacket.
Sure, it may not sound like a big deal. It's fairly apparent that Walker was just showing off his Badger fandom to score some credibility with Joe Tailgater. But the jacket does act as a reminder of an interesting little tidbit on Walker's resume. You see, Walker never attended the University of Wisconsin. He, in fact, attended Marquette University—but never graduated. That's right, the man who is arguably the leading candidate for the governor's mansion in 2010 does not have a college degree.
The $64,000 question is whether or not this matters. Nothing in the state law says one needs to attain a certain level of education to be elected. There is a definite chance that I'm making something out of nothing, probably due to frustration with a governor's race that was supposed to be considerably more exciting. The election may be a full 13 months away, but I'm still disappointed there hasn't been much to talk about since Tom Barrett fought off a tribe of Mongolian huns at the State Fair using his black belt tae-kwan-do skills (at least, that's how I remember the story going down).
However, it's hard to believe that the label of ""college dropout"" won't affect Walker somewhere down the line. His main competitor for the primary, former U.S. Rep. Mark Neumann, has a Master's degree, as does Lt. Gov. Barbara Lawton, the only declared Democratic candidate. The aforementioned Barrett, an oft rumored candidate for the Dems, has a J.D. In comparison, Walker's credentials as a person who failed to graduate from UW-Madison's privately-funded yet less prestigious competitor leave something to be desired.
The last Wisconsin governor to take office without holding a college degree was Walter Samuel Goodland in 1943. But we are in a different age now. In the 21st century college degrees are seen as a necessity more than a luxury, with many arguing that even a bachelor's isn't enough.
Just ask students on campus and many of them will likely raise an eyebrow at the fact that a person seeking the state's highest office is less educated than they are. I'm sure that in these days of the folksy Sarah Palin, some voters who themselves only have high school degrees may see Walker as one of them. But with the more affluent, Walker stands a definite chance of alienating educated swing voters who expect the governor to be the best the state has to offer, and one way to show that you are the best is having the best education.
I'm not so sure if that is the most necessary expectation. After all, Walker has been the executive of the state's most populated county for the past seven years and served five terms in the Wisconsin State Assembly. Combined, he has nearly two decades of public service to look back on and judge for better or worse. If he has managed to perform well in those positions, his lack of a diploma hanging on his office wall shouldn't really matter.
Of course, this is the man who gave us the arcane Truth-in-Sentencing policy in the legislature, and Milwaukee hasn't exactly become a shining beacon of prosperity under his watch, so maybe a Bachelor of Arts could have suited him. I hear UW-Milwaukee offers night classes.
Todd Stevens is a junior majoring in history and psychology. Please send responses to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
