Ugh. To listen to a politician shoehorn a talking point at an inappropriate moment typically makes me wince, but when that talking point is a shameless, irrelevant personal attack I sometimes wonder whether my face will ever unscrunch.
Such was the case with the tacky comments of state Attorney General — and gubernatorial hopeful — Douglas F. Gansler during a radio interview on Wednesday. Ostensibly in support of his point that the Democratic primary was still anyone’s to win because voters are only just “starting to learn about all of us,” he brought up an anecdote: “I literally ran into a woman at the subway this morning that didn’t know that Delegate [Heather] Mizeur didn’t graduate from college or was a lobbyist for her living.”
Then, since once is never enough, Gansler brought up Mizeur’s education again in discussing the “high percentage of Baltimore students” who don’t end up going to college: “Doesn’t mean you’re a bad person if you don’t. As I said, Delegate Mizeur is running for governor; she didn’t graduate from college.”
Yuck. You’d think she didn’t graduate because she developed a drug habit or something. In fact, Mizeur left the University of Illinois when she landed a full-time job in Washington, D.C. Mizeur’s campaign manager called the comments “out-of-touch and elitist.”
Let us hope Maryland voters take a lesson from Eric Cantor’s loss and choose a candidate who listens to and speaks for them.
While I don’t necessarily support Gansler, wouldn’t a college education be an important background credential/detail for a gubanatorial candidate? I thought our education system has been geared towards making a college education accessible to all. I fail to see how elitism plays a role in discussing a candidate’s higher education (or lack thereof.) Is Mizeur’s camp indicating that she is above the rest of us who needed a college education to have success in life? Wouldn’t that be far more ‘out of touch’ than the comments Gansler made?
not everyone needs a college education to be successful. Heather Mizeur is one example among many of hard working bright people who succeed without one
Much ado about nothing, IMO. You don’t need a college degree to be successful and it’s not a requirement for seeking public office. It’s up to voters whether they care about this. I don’t think it’s tacky or elitist that Gansler mentioned it.