A recently released video showing a top Republican Senate candidate seemingly dismissing a female rival because of her lack of a college degree has caused a stir in GOP circles and earned the enmity of Sarah Palin, another Republican who faced attacks over her education.
In the video, which surfaced on Wednesday, businessman David Perdue tells an audience that "there's a high school graduate in this race, OK? I'm sorry, but these issues are so much broader, so complex." He was referring to Karen Handel, a former Georgia secretary of state who never graduated from college.
Palin, who was John McCain’s running mate in the 2008 presidential race, rallied behind Handel at a small GOP gathering at a cramped Union City restaurant. The former nominee for vice president said she was disappointed in Perdue’s comments and that they marked a “sad day” in Republican politics. She said Republican icon Ronald Reagan faced the same sort of criticism when he left an acting career to pursue politics.
Handel left a broken home at 17, finished high school and went to work but never completed college.
“What Karen has gone through has empowered her to understand the real world,” said Palin, adding: “She wasn’t just a victim. She did something about it and pulled herself up with bootstraps and tenacity. … Nothing was handed to her on a platter, fed to her via a silver spoon.”
Handel was quick to seize on Perdue’s comments as she seeks to shake up the wide-open race as the May 20 vote nears. Her campaign has lagged in fund raising and trailed in polls in a muddled contest that includes Perdue, a former Fortune 500 executive, and Reps. Paul Broun, Phil Gingrey and Jack Kingston. Democrat Michelle Nunn, a nonprofit executive who faces her own crowded primary, will likely face the winner in November.
The comments “were so demeaning to the thousands of other Georgians who have similar backgrounds, people who are working so hard every single day, and did not live a life of privilege but were still able to make something of themselves,” Handel said in an interview.
This is a familiar theme for Handel, whose campaign also faced questions about her education during her 2010 campaign for governor. Palin's support, too, is also familiar: The former Alaska governor also backed her in 2010.
Perdue, who holds undergraduate and master's degrees from Georgia Tech, was trying to emphasize his business background and worldly experience when he uttered those words. The video's release comes as Perdue is rising in recent polls and underscores the increased scrutiny he faces in a race where, up to now, there has been little fireworks between campaigns.
Perdue’s camp responded by releasing a new television ad emphasizing his outsider status and a statement aimed at showing he was no elitist.
“David grew up the son of two public school teachers and worked his way through Georgia Tech by taking construction and warehouse jobs,” said spokesman Derrick Dickey. “Like most Americans, nothing was handed to him on a silver platter.”
Palin may not be the political force she was in 2008, but Handel’s campaign said it has raised more than $100,000 since receiving her endorsement last week.
And Palin, who was criticized for taking a circuitous route to a college diploma, left a final parting shot when asked whether she thought a college degree was needed to serve in the U.S. Senate.
“There are a lot of good, hard-working Americans who have more common sense in their pinky finger than a lot of those Ivy League pieces of paper up on a wall that represent some elitism,” said Palin. “Not all of the time does a college degree matter.”
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