2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumShould a candidate running for POTUS at least have a Bachelor Degree?
Not trying to be elitist. Even my job requires one.
Discuss.
El Supremo
(20,365 posts)remember that Truman didn't have one.
onecaliberal
(32,471 posts)madamvlb
(495 posts)Agschmid
(28,749 posts)we can do it
(12,116 posts)It's the most complicated job in the world. Absolutely yes.
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)A candidate running for POTUS needs to be:
1. At least 35 years old as of January 20th the next year;
2. Born a citizen; and
3. 14 years a resident.
That's it. Nail those three and you are qualified.
onecaliberal
(32,471 posts)jberryhill
(62,444 posts)I'm sure there are people who would prefer the candidate not have one.
The majority of people in this country don't have one. Of those people, I'll bet a lot of them are pretty sure that whomever screwed them over the most in life had a college degree.
onecaliberal
(32,471 posts)I was obviously asking for opinion.
cherokeeprogressive
(24,853 posts)What's the percentage of people working in bureaucratic government positions (elected and/or appointed) who have college degrees at the moment? I'd bet it's in the high nineties.
Is there any place in the world that someone went to and said "I think we'll have no government here..."? Nnnnope. Everywhere humans have gone and colonized there was shortly thereafter a means devised for humans controlling other humans.
For thousands of years, everywhere there's been enough people to have a majority, humans have been controlling other humans in one way or another. I'd say for the last several hundred, most of those humans had college degrees. Most like high ninety percentage points most.
The world is a very fucked up place in spite of humans controlling humans by means of "government" for oh, a thousand years?
Nope. A college degree doesn't seem to help one way or the other.
Agnosticsherbet
(11,619 posts)As a voter, I want a better educated candidate. The time when a candidate can be self educated, like a Lincoln, is long past.
onecaliberal
(32,471 posts)The world is much different, far more complicated. There are those of us doing jobs with FAR less complication where that degree is required. The founders couldn't imagine the world we currently live in.
Duckhunter935
(16,974 posts)Agnosticsherbet
(11,619 posts)is very pronounced, especially on the right.
Thee is simply nothing we can do about this except insist that individual voters hold candidates to a higher standard.
Hell, Bush was a C student who many believed was allowed to pass because his family donated money to the University. The truth, of course, is even a College education doesn't mean much.
Bush Graduated from Harvard but was a legacy student whose family have buildings named after them.
Duckhunter935
(16,974 posts)Life experience can be more than that college education.
onecaliberal
(32,471 posts)Duckhunter935
(16,974 posts)We do not have to agree. Just respect each other's positions. Have a great night!
onecaliberal
(32,471 posts)Thank you for the reply. Have a fantastic night!
Response to onecaliberal (Original post)
Name removed Message auto-removed
Duckhunter935
(16,974 posts)He had one of them there high falutin diploma things.
Sancho
(9,065 posts)There are certainly people who could run reasonably without a degree - for example Bill Gates. I could see someone with experience and judgement that was good enough to run, and they may have obtained an "education" without a formal college degree.
tritsofme
(17,320 posts)As to the OP, I very much doubt I would personally support a presidential candidate that was not a college graduate, but I don't think attacking Walker on this point will be very effective, there is plenty more to criticize him on.
murielm99
(30,655 posts)Is this a forbidden area of discussion? Someone should do some investigating.
Was he in trouble over something? Was he given a chance to withdraw instead of facing expulsion? Were his grades so poor that he had no hope of graduating?
If everyone else's life is going under the microscope, that should happen to his life, too.
dem in texas
(2,672 posts)He dropped out of college in his freshman year.
Journeyman
(15,001 posts)onecaliberal
(32,471 posts)elleng
(130,126 posts)Warren Stupidity
(48,181 posts)The requirements as they currently exist are sufficient.
Lil Missy
(17,865 posts)HassleCat
(6,409 posts)Not the lack of a degree, but the fact he went to college four years and didn't finish. He was a C+ student, doesn't seem to remember much about his course work, and was just marking time until he figured out right wing politics would be a perfect fit for his carnival barker personality. People who are all ambition and no substance bother me, and Walker is a prime example.
onecaliberal
(32,471 posts)Truly clueless people in my opinion should not be considered. Look at what happened with W. Not so bright, almost brought don the entire world economy.
pugetres
(507 posts)Life experience is something that everyone in the world obtains regardless of their education level. But, I value a person who makes plans and goals and works hard to achieve them. Committing yourself to a college program is a good thing. And, yes, I do know that not everyone ends up working in an area that is reflected in their college degree. I still can appreciate the hard work that went into getting a degree.
MADem
(135,425 posts)Granted, there exist people without degrees who also have this capacity, but the sheepskin--unless you're a pro athlete who has been given passing grades in an Underwater Basket Weaving major--is a method of proving this.
It means you can at least THINK a wee bit.
A Little Weird
(1,754 posts)It would not be a deciding factor for me but I would consider it a negative if a candidate did not have a degree. But still I don't think the requirements should change.
doc03
(35,143 posts)ever known have a Bachelor Degree or more. My dad was a electrician and only a high school graduate but he had Electrical Engineers
calling him for help with electrical problems. One way we could get even with some of those overeducated eggheads in the mill was do exactly what they told us to do. Some things you can't learn in a classroom.
SamKnause
(13,037 posts)I prefer a candidate that has common sense.
Many college educated people have zero common sense.
I don't want a candidate that got his/her college degree
from a 'Christian college'.
If college was free, I may have a different opinion.
As it is, the rich can have mommy and daddy buy
their diplomas for them.
Bush had a college education.
Do you seriously think he earned his diploma ???
He could not even speak in coherent sentences.
He made up words because he did not know the real
words to express his opinion.
A piece of paper does not make one intelligent.
onecaliberal
(32,471 posts)BillZBubb
(10,650 posts)College is wasted on a lot of people, so having a degree doesn't always indicate any superior ability.
840high
(17,196 posts)restorefreedom
(12,655 posts)but I don't see any pathway by which we could make it a requirement. Besides, there was W.
HereSince1628
(36,063 posts)because he mastered aping Thatcherite ideology.
Scott Walker will do ok among republicans. Walker has mastered the aping of Koch's extreme economic libertarianism and his moral majority approach conforms to the expectations of the mega-church rather than the revival tent.
kenfrequed
(7,865 posts)This is a democracy. The people can elect any damned fool they like. Should voters develop their own criteria about who they will vote for and demand better thinkers and more education? Probably.
Personally, I think policy should be the end-all be-all in terms of how you choose who you vote for. There are many people with advanced degrees in business or law degrees that are complete sociopaths and should not be elected as dog catchers.
Le Taz Hot
(22,271 posts)Lincoln didn't have a formal education. What does that tell you about higher education?