Scott Walker doesn't have a college degree.

[retromike22]

http://swampland.time.com/2013/11/19/wisconsin-gov-scott-walker-a-2016-contender-but-not-a-college-graduate/?iid=sl-article-mostpop1

Is this a negative, irrelevant, or a positive?

April 8, 2014 update:
Apparently, he wants to finish his degree:

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/254266501.html

[Pessimistic Antineutrino]

Irrelevant to me, but for some it could be a negative.

[MasterJedi]

Realllllly gold news, everyone in Wisconsin has known this since 2009.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Interesting; I doubt it will hurt him too much.

[Joe Biden 2020]

Irrelevant to me, but for some it could be a negative.

This for me, as well.

[ElectionsGuy]

Irrelevant.

[badgate]

I wouldn't vote for him anyway, but I think it makes him less qualified [on paper] for the Presidency.

[Consciously Unconscious]

He did go to college for several years though.  The reason he didn't get the degree is because he took a job offer and left without finishing all of the credits, so I don't think it's a big deal.

[badgate]

He did go to college for several years though.  The reason he didn't get the degree is because he took a job offer and left without finishing all of the credits, so I don't think it's a big deal.

Would he cut and run as President as well? Maybe he gets a better offer...President of Brazil or something. How can we trust him as President if he can't sit down and finish a 4-year degree? These rhetorical questions are all just me playing devil's advocate, but there's a case to be made. In the grand scheme of a campaign it really won't matter, though.

[Mister Mets]

Largely irrelevant, although it may give him an opening to talk about education.

He opted out of finishing college because he had a full-time job offer from IBM. He's not a typical dropout.

[Supersonic]

If this is that big a deal for you, then you're basically an elitist.

[Oakvale]

Most decent jobs require at least a Bachelor's degree, but President shouldn't? Come on.

[TheDeadFlagBlues]

Massive negative. I wouldn't vote for a federal or statewide politician without a Bachelor's degree. I'm sure much of the country shares my sentiment.

[HagridOfTheDeep]

My BA has been a total waste of time, money, and energy. I've pursued it because of the little piece of paper I'll get at the end. If he can find a way around needing that little piece of paper, good on him. I don't think it's indicative of his abilities that he does not have a degree.

[DrScholl]

Seeing as most people have to have a degree to earn a decent paycheck, I think the President should have one as well.

[Landslide Lyndon]

I'm sure in today's virulently anti-intellectual Republican party it's going to be considered a huge plus.

[Likely Voter]

I don't think it is a huge deal but some reporter would ask him a snarky question like "you need a college degree to apply to any senior level Federal job, why shouldn't you need one to be the President?"

But I think like Romney being Mormon, Chris Christie's weight, Cuomo being unmarried...this will be a topic that comes up but in the end probably not a big deal.

[Stand With Israel. Crush Hamas]

Won't be a factor. The GOP base isn't very pro-higher education these days, and the actual explanation is solid enough that it shouldn't hurt him in the general.

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

I wonder how this will affect his results with middle class, rust belt, blue collar types (without degrees). It's possible they'll more closely identify with Walker because of this. The last President with no degree was Truman.

Only dumbs base their vote on that.

[Lief 🗽]

If this is that big a deal for you, then you're basically an elitist.

When selecting the president of the country, yeah I'm definitely an elitist.

[tmthforu94]

I'm going to be in the minority of Republicans here and say I think it's pretty important to have a President that is well-educated, though there are always certain exceptions. It makes me less likely to voter for Governor Walker, but I certainly would not cross him off because of it.

[Mechaman]

Irrelevant.

I've known pretty of incredibly gifted people who dropped out of high school, and I've known plenty of Bachelor degree individuals who are dumber than sh*t.

[Roemerista]

As I member of the medieval guild of academia, I wouldn't say that it matters much. A college degree for most people is just a signalling mechanism that separates you from those who could not breach that barrier (due to money, motivation, or even less likely smarts).

Considering the GOP ed policy types (i.e. Butler) are pushing for competency/specific skill signaling, it would be quite a powerful narrative use.

If he showed  signs of illiteracy than perhaps it would be a problem, but it would be disingenuous to say Walker is a unintelligent man.

[eric82oslo]

As I member of the medieval guild of academia, I wouldn't say that it matters much. A college degree for most people is just a signalling mechanism that separates you from those who could not breach that barrier (due to money, motivation, or even less likely smarts).

Considering the GOP ed policy types (i.e. Butler) are pushing for competency/specific skill signaling, it would be quite a powerful narrative use.

If he showed  signs of illiteracy than perhaps it would be a problem, but it would be disingenuous to say Walker is a unintelligent man.

This is an interesting topic, cause Norway's current prime minister has serious reading and writing issues. And she's not alone. Actually, of our four center-right and right wing political party leaders, no less than three of them suffer like her from dyslexia. One of the things this has lead to, is that our current prime minister needs to learn almost her entire speeches by heart, and only base them (the most important ones) on a few keywords instead. Unlike Obama, she should be pretty lost confronted with a teleprompter, I can imagine. First time I read an article about this case (all the leaders with dyslexia) during our recent election campaign, I was really surprised and even a bit shocked, in disbelief. Goes to show that at least in Scandinavian politics, your social and talkative skills are far more important in order to achieve followers than traditional academic skills. At the same time though, those party leaders with dyslexia are also among the Norwegian politicians most concerned with strenghtening our education system further, and one of the three has even experience from working as a teacher herself, and clearly wanted to become the Minister of Education in the event that her party would form part of the governing coalition (which it didn't in the end).

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

I wonder how this will affect his results with middle class, rust belt, blue collar types (without degrees). It's possible they'll more closely identify with Walker because of this. The last President with no degree was Truman.

Only dumbs base their vote on that.

I'm not saying it's a good idea. But the guy who wins the "have a beer with me" test usually wins the election. It certainly helps him identify as an everyman, as every politician tries to. Every major candidate has a story about growing up poor, immigrant grandparents, dad worked in a factory, mom worked two jobs, etc. for that very reason. They don't want to seem out of touch. This can't hurt him on that front.

I still don't see how not having a college degree would be an asset to a candidate.  Even Bush went to a highly respected college and mustered his support for being charismatic (as well as having some help from Daddy, of course), but not for having or lacking a good education.  As for Walker, I'm not saying his lack of a degree will hurt him, but I don't think it will have much of an effect either way because people don't really consider a candidate's education when they're in the voting booths.  Although, perhaps I'm overestimating the American voter again...