In a reliable sign that Scott Walker is now a first-tier presidential prospect, the media wants to know what he thinks about evolution. Walker’s answer — “that’s a question a politician shouldn’t be involved in one way or the other” — is a sign that he can live up to first-tier status.
Here’s another reliable sign that Walker is in the first-tier: the Washington Post is probing the “mystery” of Walker’s decision to leave college without graduating. “Questions linger about why Walker left college,” reads the headline of David Fahrenhold’s front page story.
The story shows that, in fact, there is no mystery. Fahrenhold’s sources confirm what Walker has always said: he preferred having a full-time job, found a good one, and figured he could finish college later.
With nothing new to report in this regard, Fahrenhold looks for something spicy in Walker’s college experiences. Maybe the future governor was a bully or a nasty prankster.
No such luck. Mary Riordan describes him as “kind” and recalls that he drove her to the hospital during four different medical emergencies. His roommate says he considered Walker “too nice to ever be successful in politics.”
As for pranks, forget about them. Walker was “fun and upbeat,” but “if you were planning a prank, you knew not to even ask him to join in.” Nothing at all like that wild and crazy Mitt Romney.
Fahrenhold then probes Walker’s academic performance. It turns out he was often late to French class. The horror!
Fahrenhold also dug up Walker’s “Third World Politics” professor. He expressed disappointment that Walker wasn’t more into his class. And he was unimpressed by the caliber of Walker’s conservative arguments.
Walker’s arguments still don’t impress liberals. Long may it continue.
Walker’s passion during college was neither French nor Third World Politics. Instead, Walker was into campus politics. He ran for several offices without success.
His opponents thought that Walker’s campaigns went “too far.” They cited a pro-Walker flier saying that his liberal opponent had only “vague ideas” and would be ineffective in office. The horror!
The flyer “outraged” the student newspaper. It declared Walker “unfit” and endorsed his opponent. Copies of that edition allegedly were stolen, but Fahrenhold found no evidence that Walker was involved.
The Post, in sum, has struck out on Walker’s college days. But plenty of time remains to probe his time in high school and his Little League career.
Come to think of it, with Barack Obama still in office, there’s time for the mainstream media to look into unanswered questions surrounding his academic career — e.g. his college and law school grades and his law school application.
Scott Walker’s reasons for leaving college are no mystery, but it’s still not clear how Obama got into Harvard Law School having graduated from college apparently with no honors.
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