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DEL.ICIO.USA possible degree of change in the 2010 race for governor
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The 2010 race for governor will begin sorting itself out this summer. And it could have a feature rare to politics, even in Georgia.
Three of the candidates mentioned most often as possible successors to Gov. Sonny Perdue are Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, Secretary of State Karen Handel, and U.S. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland.
Aside from their status as Republicans, they all have something important in common. Not one has a college degree. Each is bright, each is talented. All are certainly ambitious. But officially, as measured by diplomas, their education stopped with high school.
Americans have a love-hate relationship with the people we choose to rule over us. We require that they be our equals in person, but our betters on paper. Even in Georgia, we prefer our political elite educated, so long as that education is covered up with blue jeans and a John Deere cap.
Among our governors, two college degrees — the second usually in law — are more common than one. The last Georgia governor to go no further than high school was Lester Maddox, elected in 1966.
Before that, it was Hoke Smith, publisher of the Atlanta Journal, in 1907. But Smith hardly counts. He was home-schooled by his law professor father.
So what does the possibility of a degreeless governor in the 21st century say about us — and about these three candidates? Two clues are biography and business.
Westmoreland, at 58, is the oldest of the three. He grew up on Atlanta’s blue-collar south side. In his neighborhood, college was outside the norm.
Handel, 46, was a straight-A student in Maryland. But an unstable family led her to strike out on her own at age 17. Cagle, 42, who has told you time and time again that he was raised by a single mom, had a football scholarship to Georgia Southern — but tore his Achilles tendon.
All three had a smattering of college courses, but ultimately used business as a substitute for a degree. Westmoreland started a construction firm. Cagle purchased a tuxedo store. Handel began at the bottom of the corporate ladder and started climbing.
Why haven’t their political careers been circumscribed by a lack of formal education? Here’s a hypothesis: Over the last 25 years, Georgia has lived through two quiet revolutions.
One has been economic — for years, the state has been among the fastest-growing in the Union. The other is the political revolution, from Democratic to Republican rule.
Any historian will tell you that in the chaos of change, resumes matter less than performance. Social mandates are ignored, and social mobility increases.
Ask Alexander Hamilton. Ask Napoleon. Ask Bill Gates. Ask Ralph Reed, who flashed a doctorate in history and innumerable GOP credentials when he ran for lieutenant governor two years ago.
Unimpressed Republicans preferred Cagle, the high school graduate.
In any race for governor, the attitude of these three candidates toward education could become important. None can be described as anti-intellectual, though they all express a certain wariness when it comes to educated idiots.
The offspring of Westmoreland and Cagle are all college graduates, or headed in that direction.
Yet Westmoreland has developed a soft-spot for the home-schooling movement. Cagle has pushed the marriage of high schools with technical institutions, to produce skilled graduates who can thrive without college.
And Handel, who can still type 100 words a minute, says she would insist on “making sure a high school diploma means something for young people.
“Because life intervenes.”
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Comments
By you suck galloway
June 1, 2008 6:15 PM | Link to this
Man, I’m sick of you elitist liberals in the media. “We prefer out political elite to be educated.” Who the hell do you think you are Galloway?
By Mike In Woodstock
June 1, 2008 6:16 PM | Link to this
This is such a shame. Georgia’s dumbest are running the state. Chances are, one of these boobs will wind up winning.
“I don’t need no kollege degree!”
By Taxpayer
June 1, 2008 7:41 PM | Link to this
There are many intelligent people in this world. There are also many ignorant ones. Each population also consists of those with varying “degrees” of education. The depth and breadth of that education should ideally align with that person’s career goal(s). That said, I would personally have many doubts about electing someone for the office of governor that does not possess the appropriate skills set. That said, I would certainly be inclined to more highly favor a candidate with a college degree over one with a high school education — assuming all other qualifications such as work experience, age, etc., are essentially equal. Of course, it would also help to know how well each candidate performed in school for I’m not too keen on favoring a college-educated person with C’s in History courses over a high school graduate with A’s in Algebra. I suppose that receiving that much detail about a candidate would be asking too much though. The only thing worse would be asking about their personal lives such as how many times they have been married or if they were ever arrested, charged, and/or convicted of a crime, or where they have lived and worked, etc. Let’s talk more about Cagle, for example. I would want to know more about his work in the Senate for openers. I’d like, for example, to hear about his deliberations regarding HB54. Of course, that’s just for openers and primarily due to his lack of higher education to use as a basis for judging his abilities. On the other hand, if he possessed a law degree I would see no need to hear his thought process regarding that and other bills for I would already have a pretty good idea all on my own.
By John
June 1, 2008 8:26 PM | Link to this
Very interesting! They all are lucky that the Governor job isn’t under the same rules as some of the state agencies are. Some of them require a Masters degree and will use the lack of one to exclude you from consideration.
By Taxpayer
June 1, 2008 8:34 PM | Link to this
John,
Do you think that requiring a minimum level of education for certain jobs is appropriate?
By RJ
June 1, 2008 8:36 PM | Link to this
“Americans have a love-hate relationship with the people we choose to rule over us.”
Galloway, under our Democratic Republic elected officials work for us. The confusion is understandable given the marginalization of the electorate and elevated influence of organized/special interest over the last 15 years.
The cause of this imbalance is traceable to the emergence of money driven election techniques over the last 20 years that can assess the thinking of the electorate with an an impressive degree of precision.
There are many varied efforts to increase voter participation, instigated by different groups for different reasons. Two basic views have been driving these efforts. The first relates voting to the duties and responsibilities of citizenship.
The second uses passion to excite voter participation, e.g., wedge issues such as gay gay marriage. This strategy encourages emotional voting, which has exploded in
the last 10 years. The problem is that expanding the numbers of people participating in elections have done little to change the nature of how campaigns are conducted and improve the way our nation is governed. A resulting consequence has been more division among the citizenry.
More responsible voting is imperative to reclaiming the rightful and dutiful position of the electorate in our elections and governing processes. A responsible voter not only shows up on election-day to cast a ballot, he or she is also informed about the candidates, issues, and votes in the most reasoned way possible. Contrasted with emotional voting, which is driven by passion or prejudice, reasoned voting is the result of a search for what is true, most reasonable or likely about each candidate’s assertion and what is the best vision/plan for addressing the challenges confronting our nation, states and communities. Reasoned voting is the result of a methodical,inquisitive process. For example, what do I need to know about the purpose of the office of Governor, the candidates seeking it, as well as their plans for making the State a better place in which to live? Why? How will I use this information to cast a reasoned ballot?
Be not dismayed…a movement is developing that will reverse this dangerous trend. Emotional voting is the target.
By UGA Professor
June 1, 2008 8:56 PM | Link to this
Ya’ll seems to furgit that are current Guvnor, George Ervin “Sunshine” Perdue has a Doctor’s Degree and he’s dummer then durt. Collige degrees dont matter no how.
By College Bound
June 1, 2008 9:00 PM | Link to this
Somebody ought to check on Kathy Cox’ “credentials” - make a bet she doesn’t even have a high school diploma!
By WTF???
June 1, 2008 9:21 PM | Link to this
Lynn Westmoreland doesn’t have a college degree????? There’s a surprise!!!! I’ll bet he still hasn’t memorized more than three of the ten commandments!!!
By a thought
June 1, 2008 9:22 PM | Link to this
The question is who do we want to represent us? Is this State in the same league as Louisiana? Bobby Jindal earned degrees from Brown University and Oxford University (and is a Rhodes Scholar). Are we in the same league as Florida? Jeb Bush earned a degree from the University of Texas and Charlie Crist earned a degree from Florida State University. What about North Carolina? Mike Easley earned a degree from UNC. Bob Riley from Alabama earned a degree from the University of Alabama, and Mark Sanford from South Carolina earned an MBA from the University of Virginia.
How can Georgia, which has some of the best higher education institutions in the world (Emory University, Georgia Tech, and UGA), elect a governor without a college degree?
Our governor should be someone who has the basic qualifications to be a serious vice-presidential or presidential candidate (like Charlie Crist from Florida or Bobby Jindal from Louisiana). I’m sorry but a college education is a basic qualification.
Please don’t make this some kind of elitist thing. Higher education is well within the norm in this nation.
By LOL
June 1, 2008 9:28 PM | Link to this
College Bound brings up a good point. Cox’s Wikipedia entry says nothing about her education.
I think Handel’s and Westmoreland’s entries also do not say.
Maybe people just assume that if you have risen to a prominent position you must be college educated? Maybe Cox, Handel, and Westmoreland could edit their Wikipedia entries to be more candid?
By joe webb
June 1, 2008 9:33 PM | Link to this
This is a foolish question. I would think that if a voter wishes to be represented by someone with a college degree that is for whom they would seek out to cast their vote. The qualifications for seeking the Office of President of the USA are: 1. A native born person 2. Be a minimum age of 35 years. To attempt to keep an individual from seeking office because they have achieved some educstional status would be against our principles as Americans.
By DD
June 1, 2008 10:43 PM | Link to this
Yes, life intervenes, but as a professor of higher education, I have had many successful students who found a way to make higher education possible after/when life intervened. And “life intervenes” predominately due to ones choices in life. Also, completing a college degree says something about a persons persistence, communication skills, organizational skills, ability to work within structure etc. This perhaps, tells us more about a person than grades do. Havintg said that, I would rather have a “C-student” who was thoughtful, creative, and intelligent rather than an “A-student” who is an over-bearing, smug, elitist, son-of-a-%$#@*.
By Shannon, M.Div.
June 1, 2008 10:43 PM | Link to this
One isn’t supposed to edit one’s own Wikipedia entry.
By kreedham
June 1, 2008 10:45 PM | Link to this
Kathy Cox was once a teacher in Fayette County and last time I checked you had to have a college degree.
Doesn’t mean she should have the job she does.
By Taxpayer
June 1, 2008 11:24 PM | Link to this
Of course, an “A-student” who is also thoughtful, creative, and intelligent is even better than a “C-student” who is over-bearing, smug, elitist, son-of-a-%$#@*. Wouldn’t you agree.
By RJ
June 2, 2008 12:10 AM | Link to this
Understanding the requirements for judging talent for elective office is a serious aspect of voting because the actions of elected officials affect not only our lives but those of our children, grandchildren and so on. Choosing candidate(s) most likely to perform competently in office is even more challenging. It requires going beyond constitutionally defined qualifications to understand (1)functions of the various elective offices, (2) actual services provided by elective offices, (3) relevance of training and experience to the office sought, (4) character/vision/plan of the candidate to improve things, to name a few.
Based upon the foregoing, and some other factors, making judgments about candidates for elective office involves determining minimum training and experience requirements, their relevance to the elective office sought, and competitively assessing the qualifications of the various candidates. For example, being a lawyer is of little significance in running the Office of Secretary of State, which has a budget in excess of 29 million, over 100 employees, enforces election laws, among other duties and responsibilities. The same holds true for running the Office of Governor, which manages a budget in excess of 20 billion and better than 40,000 employees, supervises a statewide police force, among other functions.
By GodHatesTrash
June 2, 2008 6:27 AM | Link to this
All three of them are pathetic rednecks. Trash, from a long long line of trash.
But in Georgia, trash rules.
By Taxpayer
June 2, 2008 7:44 AM | Link to this
Also, a person that performs well as a senator, for example, is not automatically qualified for the office of Governor. The same is true for many public offices yet we have career politicians choosing to use different positions as stepping stones. Perhaps one of this country’s biggest problems is the fact that people choose politics as a career rather than as a service to the public. That just doesn’t seem right.
By Veronica
June 2, 2008 9:09 AM | Link to this
It seems to me that setting a fine example is a tenet of leadership - or should be. These three have CHOSEN not to get (or even go back) to get their degrees!! What kind of example is that for our youth? It is too bad that the ‘best and brightest’ aren’t running. We need to do a better job in that regard. Meanwhile, lets get some fresh, educated blood in the race and throw these bums out!
By Ed ucatedguess
June 2, 2008 9:27 AM | Link to this
FYI: School chief Kathy Cox has a masters degree from Emory
By Robby Ginepri
June 2, 2008 9:32 AM | Link to this
Despite the lack of a college degree, I’d say Karen Handel has done a wonderful job as secretary of state. Common sense can’t be taught in college… and the one thing we need in the state house right now is common sense. Sonny, Casey, and the boys seem to be severely lacking it.
By Robby Ginepri
June 2, 2008 9:33 AM | Link to this
Despite the lack of a college degree, I’d say Karen Handel has done a wonderful job as secretary of state.
Common sense can’t be taught in college… and the one thing we need in the state house right now is common sense. Sonny, Casey, and the boys seem to be severely lacking it.
By RJ
June 2, 2008 1:28 PM | Link to this
Robby Ginepri, It takes more than a college degree and common sense to effectively run a State Department like the Office of Secretary of State.
You expressed the opinion that Handel is doing a good job. Is your opinion based upon your feeling about her? Is your opinion based upon a full understanding of the functions of Office and the fact that she is managing them well? Is your opinion based upon how well she is doing to keep the campaign promises made?
There are opinions and then there are informed opinions. It is the latter that really holds elected officials accountable.
By Bentley
June 2, 2008 2:16 PM | Link to this
A college degree doesn’t mean you are smart and accomplished any more than a lack of a degree means you are stupid and lazy. A person with a degree has a formal education and a person without a degree lacks a formal education. To read anymore into it is evidence of bias, pre-judging and a a lack of any education
By Reese
June 2, 2008 9:33 PM | Link to this
Just because someone has no college degree doesn’t mean they are stupid. As Forrest Gump says, “Stupid is as stupid does.” I know several college graduates who ARE stupid. Mainly, they have book sense but no common sense. My two sons and I could go head-to-head with any college graduate on any day. The colleges today are being infiltrated with too many liberals who have no common sense, and the local school systems also are a joke; just check out the graduation rates. All they want is money and could care less about our children. It will be interesting to see who GOD has chosen to be our next leader/leaders.
By Republican DittoHead
June 2, 2008 11:04 PM | Link to this
My party doesn’t value education we love to bash teachers, school systems, and evil-doers whoops!, I mean liberals
By God
June 2, 2008 11:06 PM | Link to this
Reese,
It’s me God. I choose Barack Obama. Booyah
By BARRY MORSE
June 3, 2008 10:04 AM | Link to this
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