August 26, 2008

Obama Labeled 'Elite' as He Continues to Collect From Professors

Washington — College students showed up during the presidential primary season as prominent supporters of Sen. Barack Obama. Apparently it won’t be causing them many problems with their professors.

An analysis released today by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics found college professors and other educators holding strong as the top donors to Mr. Obama’s campaign. Continuing a trend noted last year, educators donated at least $2.3-million to the Obama campaign in June and July, surpassed only by lawyers and retirees, the group reported. Education-industry donors are typically dominated by professors and other college employees, it said.

Employees of the University of California and their families gave $80,380 to Mr. Obama in June and July, making their institution the third-largest corporate donor to the campaign, after only Microsoft and Google. Eight other universities — Harvard, Columbia, Stanford, Michigan, Georgetown, Chicago, Washington, and Pennsylvania — also were in the top 25.

The center’s executive director, Sheila Krumholz, suggested in a written statement that contributions from such renowned universities may help Republicans label Mr. Obama as “elite.” Ms. Krumholz neglected to mention that her own organization’s data list investors and developers, along with retirees and lawyers, as top contributors to the Republican candidate Sen. John McCain.

A business professor at University of California, Carl Shapiro, said he and his colleagues had begun donating to Mr. Obama in large part because of their reaction to the presidency of George W. Bush. Mr. Shapiro told The Chronicle that while he considers himself a political moderate, his donations reflected “a really disastrous presidency that’s gotten people going.” —Paul Basken

Comments

1. Given the ecstasy of his own followers and the support he has had from the mainstream media in the United States, that event should have brought with it a sense of inevitability, an overwhelming tide of belief that he was now unstoppable: that the future belonged to him. It should, in short, have given him a real bounce in the polls. But it didn’t. What he got was a very small spike.Obama’s brilliantly effective strategy for winning the nomination involved effectively writing off many of the big states with large working-class populations and, so far, he has offered almost nothing by way of practical remedies to the country’s economic problems: his oratory may lift the heart as Franklin Roosevelt’s did but it is singularly lacking in the sort of substantive programmers that gave substance to Roosevelt’s inspirational message.
   ———————————-
   mikemathew

   Illinois Alcohol Addiction Treatment

   — mikemathew    Aug 27, 12:24 AM    #

2. #1 and #2 – very well said!

   — TRB    Aug 27, 09:02 AM    #

3. We wouldn’t want a president who’s supported by smart people.

   — DLS    Aug 27, 09:41 AM    #

4. Dear DLS,

   You are making the assumption that college professors are smart people, as opposed to educated. I have little evidence from years of personal experience as a teacher to support the belief that college professors are smarter on average than many other professions — just more educated (and arrogant).

   — lbr    Aug 27, 10:10 AM    #

5. Of course it’s an assumption, but a safe one. You would hardly assume that they are less smart. One assumption is better and more sensible than the other, and it certainly isn’t the latter. And if we aren’t smarter, than we aren’t elite. The argument is either circular or indefensible, depending on your tact.

   — DLS    Aug 27, 10:18 AM    #

6. What’s wrong with professors and staff donating money to Obama? He is intellect and truthful; and we see that a change needs to be make for the future of the USA and other countries.

   — V. Espinoza    Aug 27, 11:09 AM    #

7. Elite. By which they mean not a complete moron?

   — Ba'al    Aug 27, 11:12 AM    #

8. I am always amazed about how people want to dumb down the most important office in the world. The successful President needs to be intelligent. We have experienced 8 years under the guy next door and we have an economy and a foreign policy that has seemingly been run by the guy next door. Frankly, I think it’s time for a significant change. If it gets us better results – GO ELITISM!

   — D. Brown    Aug 27, 11:19 AM    #

9. How does the fact that University of California employees give money to a campaign make the university a “corporate donor?”

   — jcd    Aug 27, 11:25 AM    #

10. What is the substance of Obama’s change? Change simply for the sake of it isn’t necessarily good or positive.

    — Cicero    Aug 27, 11:33 AM    #

11. I am more amazed that there are “professors” or do I really mean, kooks, like Bernadine Dohrn, William Ayers and Ward Churchhill that liberal radicals like Obama may just appoint to important policy posts if elected. It’s nice that Dohrn had a rich father-in-law in Tom Ayers that allowed her a post to do her writings and mumblings. I’d rather have the guy next door, than the kooks from Mars leading education initiatives. By the way, how effective was Obama and Ayers in the $50m they got for the Chicago Annenberg Challenge? I don’t think you get a lot of effectiveness from a bunch of elite trust fund babies like Ayers and his crew. Change that we could really count on would amount to cleaning house in the halls of education from this dead weight.

    — JAS    Aug 27, 11:35 AM    #

12. These comments are shocking. If you have so little regard for academics, cancel your subscription to the Chronicle and get another job!
    I also wonder if an “elite” African-American is really what troubles some folks .

    — BA    Aug 27, 11:49 AM    #

13. Eventually, someone is going to have to answer why President elect Obama and his painfully thin vitae was left largely unexamined until now.

    What we are learning about the man from Chicago is little more than what Hillary and Biden warned us about a year ago.

    We Democrats have acted in haste and may soon get four more years to regret in leisure.

    — Packard    Aug 27, 11:54 AM    #

14. Yet George W. is a Harvard graduate. Elite indeed.

    — James Kline    Aug 27, 11:55 AM    #

15. #11 – GWB is far, far more intelligent than you make him out to be. Granted, he probably wouldn’t get more than a C in a college public speaking course, but he does understand how the real world works. I’ve said it before in this forum, and I’ll say it again, I am convinced that in 50 years GWB will be considered one of our better presidents. Future analysis will show that Saddam and his son’s HAD to be dealt with, and GWB had the courage to do so. Ensuring our national security is, after all, the primary function of the President and Commander-in-Chief. If those of you who decided to hate GWB after the 2000 election could get past your emotions you would understand. Your emotions are clouding your judgement.

    I’ve also said this before, and I’ll say it again – common sense and character are far more important traits of a good leader than intelligence is. Though the two are not mutually exclusive, if given the choice I’ll take common sense and character over intelligence any time. I know, and work with, some real self centered and arrogant jerks who happen to also be quite intelligent. I’ve worked for some in the past as well. Not fun.

    — FB    Aug 27, 11:59 AM    #

16. I don’t understand the comments about “smart” above. If we aren’t smart, what are we doing teaching at a university? If we are simply “educated,” one would hope that education was good enough to require some high degree of intelligence? Otherwise, our students are being cheated. As someone points out above, we have had a President who was poorly educated and not very smart for 8 years. Everyone, Republicans and Demcrats alike, agrees that this experiment has been a disaster!
    Jim

    — Jim    Aug 27, 12:01 PM    #

17. Obama has 12 years of experience as an elected political official, plus experience as a law professor, lawyer, and community organizer. I’m not sure that many graduate students (except me) have that amount of experience. It’s not a thin vitae. Obama has more experience than most of the men elected president.

    — John K. Wilson    Aug 27, 12:10 PM    #

18. Good grief! I am a professor and consider myself a part of the working class. My work is educating future teachers and writing about early childhood education. It is disrespectful of anyone to criticize a whole profession in the way that those posting to the current article have. Give it a rest…if you think that teaching at the postsecondary level is so easy, then get to the nearest grad school, spend 4 to 7 years getting a couple of advanced degrees and then apply for one of the jobs that you seem to covet.

    — Ann    Aug 27, 12:14 PM    #

19. So much for the myth that everyone in academia is a liberal. There certainly seem to be neocon true believers lurking on this site. As for me, I want a President who is evidence based, exercises good judgement, listens to those who disagree and does not alienate and marginalize those with different viewpoints. Obama shows a record of behaving in this manner. Bush listens only to himself and God. McCain curses at those who disagree. I think Obama will be a much better leader.

    — Lee C    Aug 27, 12:14 PM    #

20. Of course you all see what is happening. Elite is going to be the next dirty word. There is a difference between “elite” and “elitist” but that would not be enough of a simplification for most people… especially the media.

    Ok folks, you “smart people”. I’m gonna open up. I’ve been an active voter for 20 years (more but excuse my vanity). Is anyone else of the impression that it doesn’t matter what we do or who we vote for? Has the Democrat congress done anything that the Republican executive and minority disapproves of?

    Our young people are getting killed a long way from home and Americans have killed more brown people than Sadam. A small group of people have gotten rich(er) over the war, the economy is in the trash, and education is unfair and largely unfunded, elections are disputed as rigged.

    And 4 years from now, what will have changed? Is it all that different from any other time in our past? Will our future ever change. I think I have become jaded, but perhaps reasonably so.

    I don’t think I will vote, perhaps ever again. At times of war, one can opt out of the draft as a conscientious objector. I think I should do the same, at least for this election.

    Forgive my bitter vile but damnit, I’ve been paying attention.

    — Derek    Aug 27, 12:25 PM    #

21. The Chronicle is a trade journal for higher education. Its readers are those associated with higher education. They report that a larger percentage of its audience donated to one candidate over the other. Another trade journal with its particular readereship is probably reporting that its readers are contributing to the other candidate. People, no matter their occupation, can still support the candidate they choose based on their particular world view and philosophy. It doesn’t really help to call each other names and generalize about elitism or working class. Vote for the candidate that serves you and your family best and leave it at that.

    — jb    Aug 27, 12:30 PM    #

22. # 18 is surely joking when s/he says “ he [GWB] does understand how the real world works” and “common sense and character are far more important traits of a good leader than intelligence is”. Read Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq’s Green Zone to see what kind of “common sense” and understanding of the “real world” has been associated with the Bush/Cheney regime. The regime is and has been full of elites (e.g., Peter McPherson http://www.nasulgc.org/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=247&), by the way, though elites who are ideologues and use their elite status and elite networks to refashion the world (and higher education, if at all possible) in their desired image.

    — Amazed    Aug 27, 12:42 PM    #

23. I totally agree with #22:

    “As for me, I want a President who is evidence based, exercises good judgement, listens to those who disagree and does not alienate and marginalize those with different viewpoints. Obama shows a record of behaving in this manner. “

    Over the course of my academic career, I have become humbled by the recognition of how much I don’t know and how much I have yet to learn in my academic discipline.

    My view of Obama is that he recognizes the need to learn, to use evidence in making decisions, and to listen to diverse points of view. In blogger Andrew Sullivan’s terminology, Obama may have a liberal voting record, but a “conservative temperament.”

    — MS    Aug 27, 12:43 PM    #

24. It is way past time that people with three-digit IQs get a president whom thy can respect. After all, we are part of this country, too, even though intelligence and education are now devalued, courtesy of the so-called conservataive movement. Republicans have made an art of lying to the ignorant, while Democrats appeal to reason. Of course most university faculty are going to prefer a Democrat. OBAMA!

    — case hardened    Aug 27, 12:46 PM    #

25. Typical elitist bashing. For one, I prefer a President that can put a sentence together and understand complex problems without resorting to simplistic either-or thinking. Shouldn’t the President be ‘above average’? And as for Derek (#23) – yes, we can have better and institute policy change, but it requires jaded people to vote, too. Else we’ll get more of ‘McSame’.

    — UC Prof    Aug 27, 12:50 PM    #

26. Gotta love the headline. In a democracy, “elite” is a bad word — but it’s applied to candidates who are supported by the educated, not to candidates supported by the wealthy and powerful.

    — Midwest prof    Aug 27, 12:53 PM    #

27. Is Obama a US citizen and qualified to hold the office or president?

    — hw    Aug 27, 01:01 PM    #

28. “Elite,” ‘‘bumpkin,” “bubba”: all attempts to undermine candidates by association with one group or another. Typical political fodder.

    Frankly, a president of the lowest common denominator in intelligence or education does not appeal to me. I guess that makes me elitist.

    — Tango    Aug 27, 01:08 PM    #

29. Oh, come on — Obama was born in Hawaii….

    — Comm Prof    Aug 27, 01:14 PM    #

30. A disastrous war faught on false (and arguably fraudulent) grounds; global antiAmericanism reaching levels not seen since Vietnam; the shelving of multilaterialism, diplomacy, habeas corpus, privacy, separation of powers, and the rule of law; “teaching to the test”; redistribution of wealth from poor and middle class to the rich; the politicization of the Justice Dept; the worst housing crisis since the Great Depression; the stock market tanking; record oil co. profits along with record gas prices; Mission Accomplished,“Brownie, you’re doing one heck of a job,” “he can run but he can’t hide.” These and more are your legacy, Mr. Bush.

    It is depressing to see each day in the comments on this blog that there are so many people in academe who would love, save for the 22d. Amendment, to give Bush a third term. Don’t despair. Mr. McCain covets you votes.

    — Dave    Aug 27, 01:32 PM    #

31. I thought Obama was running against McCain! All the Bush bashing is a waste of time at this point. The use of the term “elite” is also useless. Its application is in the eye of the beholder.

    — Brad    Aug 27, 01:32 PM    #

32. Lee C. is not quite right by saying that “Bush listens only to himself and God.” He also listened to Cheney and Rumsfeld, who together have about 80+ years of the “experience” so highly prized by some.

    In their wake, Rumsfeld has left an undermanned and overcommitted military and Cheney’s back-room dealings from his undisclosed location have created an international mess.

    Frankly, I’ve had more than enough of this kind of “experience”.

    — Ugh    Aug 27, 01:36 PM    #

33. Yes my grandfather and grandmother did not get past the 8th grade before they had to work due to death of a parent. So they encouraged all of their children and grandchildren to work hard and pay attention in school. Maybe that makes me elitist now along with all the other eggheads who worked to improve life for all of us. But somebody who has 7 homes and the swift boaters with their wads of cash are not elisitst? Even Granny could see past that fallacy.

    — me2    Aug 27, 01:43 PM    #

34. ps-gramps was a plumber by the ways so #34, thanks for your phony comment. He was as proud as anybody that his kids all went to college and most of his grandchildren. The ones who did not go to college have been in unions by the way. The Republicans have been really nice to the laborers, yeah right.

    — me2    Aug 27, 01:47 PM    #

35. The idea that professors are simply highly educated and not “smart” (which I guess means possessing great native intelligence) is just plain wrong. There were over 130 students who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in my field from my college (one of the University of California campuses) in the year I graduated. Two of these individuals earned honors degrees. After many years of graduate education, I took the faculty position I now hold. I was told that more than 100 applicants with Ph.D.s had applied for that position. The truth of the matter is that most professors are in the top 1%, in terms of accomplishments (and probably the underlying native intelligence – combined with education – needed to make those accomplishments), of people who earned undergraduate degrees in their fields. This great selectivity is no doubt also true of other professions. So many of these people are supporting Obama. That indicates that some (certainly not all) of the best informed, most highly educated, and “smartest” people in this country are supporting his candidacy. Is that supposed to be a bad thing?

    — rocinante    Aug 27, 01:50 PM    #

36. The idea of people with doctorates being smart is inconsistent with my 35 years at 4 universities. My mother, a Jewish woman who never finished high school, was a lot smarter than most Ph. Ds I ever met. So having an advanced degree does not mean you have good judgement or insight. Most times it means the opposite. Just the truth guys and gals.

    — Fred D.    Aug 27, 01:59 PM    #

37. Fred D.
    Yes, having an advanced degree does not mean, in any absolute sense, that one has good judgment or insight. But it’s a reasonably good predictor of these qualities, isn’t it? I, too, have known highly intelligent individuals without degrees. I, too, have known idiots with PhDs. But on the whole, education is a reasonable measure of intelligence…if it isn’t, what’s the point?

    — James Truman    Aug 27, 02:09 PM    #

38. Fred, that is an ignorant comment. The brightest men and women I have ever met hold advanced degrees.

    — Kyle David    Aug 27, 02:10 PM    #

39. Were their names Bernadine Dohnr, Williams Ayers and Ward Churchill?

    — JAS    Aug 27, 02:19 PM    #

40. I’ve met my share of dumb Ph.D. holders as well as smart ones, and yes, some are reprehensible. A lot of this commentary is silly. However, I would hope anyone would prefer a smart President to a dumb one who is in thrall to handlers. There is a big difference between GWB and either Obama or McCain. GWB is a product of wealth and privilege, whose success, if you can call it that, has been a function of position established by his ancestors. His weaknesses both morally and academically have been repeatedly papered over because of his family connections. Why anyone thinks this is good background to be President is beyond me. He has certainly lived down to expectations. January can’t come soon enough.

    — CW    Aug 27, 02:28 PM    #

41. It seems pretty interesting that there are quite a few trolls sitting around on this site. Don’t feed them, people! But clearly if this site is attracting so many trolls, then academics must be seen as having something interesting and influential to say. It’s especially interesting that academics are viewed as “elite” merely for having an education, even though the majority of us barely scrape together enough money for one modest mortgage—or, in the case of the multitude of adjuncts among us—usually, a modest rental space…when John McCain and his likely running mate Mitt Romney have 12 houses between them. Why is “elite” associated with ideas and not means/financial resources? Why do we show disdain in this culture for those who pour their blood, sweat, and tears into years and years of studying, while the CEO who works halfway hard for his billions and then bilks workers out of their pensions is widely and jealously admired? Obama is both smart and educated—I prefer both in a national leader. To have achieved his level of success and skill, Obama has worked harder than many who have held the office of the Presidency, including George Bush. Elitism implies being born with a silver spoon in your mouth—Obama had none of this, and who can resent the values his anthropologist mother instilled in him when she woke him up at 4 a.m. every schoolday to study English prior to his living with his grandparents? Let’s put ignorance and handouts for rich corporations behind us. Elect Obama!

    — KTDM    Aug 27, 02:43 PM    #

42. #44 Dohrn and Ayers are both products of wealth and privilege via Tom Ayers and the Daley machine. The whole point of higher education supporting Obama versus lawyers, investors, scientists, economists, etc. is that education Ph.Ds (actually isn’t Dohrn just a J.D.?) make horrible policy makers at the highest executive level. Perhaps if Obama surrounded himself with Milton Friedman types and not anti-capitalists, he’d have a better shot at the Presidency.

    — JAS    Aug 27, 02:49 PM    #

43. How has the political playbook changed in the last forty years? Probably not very much.

    We have two political parties “fighting it out” for supreme dominance (“taking” the Supreme Court, both Houses, & the Executive office). Like a game of chess, only two players have come to the negotiating table. There is a “in-it to win-it” attitude with an “all or nothing” and “win at all costs” mentality. It is my way or the highway! Even if there is mediation, it is at some arbitrary point where both sides can claim political victory, but no difference is realized by the American people.

    Although educational achievement and financial wealth are correlated, financial wealth does not cause educational achievement and educational achievement does not cause financial wealth (or morals, work ethic, etc.).

    Institutions, like the UC system, that operate and function on tax payer money (like the DMV or public utility) are not accountable to the taxpayer. They even shift their “fees” back to the taxpayer. More simply put, I am not very thrilled by the notion of paying professors so they can use the money to support someone they feel will increase their pay. It’s not just the thought of high pay, but the continued shift in accountability away from those bearing the tax burden.

    There appears to be a romantic notion, that those with money, wealth, & privilege (elitist, upper-class, those that have something most do not, etc.) appear to act as if they actually know what is best for the rest. Maybe they do, maybe they don’t. I tend to believe the individual is trying to control their world to preserve their own self-interests. But the impact of the individual (elitist or lay-person) is gone. Political organizations and institutions are the new elite. Institutions (public or private) enable the two party system to persist for benefit of the new elite. Political parties have become institutionalized and institutions have become politicized. Both of which exist by feeding off the fears, hopes, and dreams of the American people.

    — ajh    Aug 27, 03:03 PM    #

44. Ann #21: It’s disrespectful to criticize a whle profession?? GET USED TO IT. It’s called freedom of speech. The U.S. has its faults, but it is not Germany or Canada. College teachers and mullahs go to the bathroom like everyone else. If college teachers can (rightly) criticize the military, Americans can criticize their college teachers. That college teachers have some kind of monopoply on virtue and intelligence is hilarious.

    — whatup    Aug 27, 03:06 PM    #

45. I’ve met George Bush, and although he has behaved in office like an idiot, he is definitely not one. OTOH, Obama is a much more intellectual and thoughtful man. Maybe the rest of the country could take a clue from the fact that many of the most educated, intelligent people in the US support him. Perhaps this group really DOES have some idea of what’s good for the country.

    — Al    Aug 27, 03:09 PM    #

46. Al Gore flunked out of every grad schools. And can professors with Ph.D. make it in the real working world beside academia? I doubt it since the business worl drequired accountability. And since 99& of profs voted liberals, how is that for intellectual diversity on campuses? Being pro-military=right-wing. And every dissertation need to fit the race-class-gender modes.

    — Michael    Aug 27, 03:50 PM    #

47. The tired criticism that Obama lacks experience is but a veiled appeal to anti-affirmative action sentiments. Or is “real world experience” working for corporate America or better big oil?

    — Gilberto    Aug 27, 04:03 PM    #

48. I have known people with phds in physics from mit who could not find their way to the bath room. And I have known phds in physics who had photographic memories. And I have known phds in physics from mit who could make terrific decisions. But it was not the phd that helped them make terrific decisions.
    W was turned down by six law schools including the university of texas but got in harvard business school and passed with flying grades but he has flunked every other thing he tried including running a baseball team funded by his dad’s arab friends. So much for harvard bs graduates being smart.

    — Fred D.    Aug 27, 04:05 PM    #

49. Obama is a thin modern version of Jesse Jackson but with a Harvard law degree.
    If he were white he wouild not even been on the radar screen.
    He won 99% of the black votes in states like Virginia, NC, SC and others which led to eight of his primary victories.
    He is a big ego who talks his way anywhere including Harvard Law. So friends if he is elected we will see the next Hoover and this time he will be Black.
    No wonder Jesse is mad at him. Slipping by without any challenge in those states and even getting a great advantage by daring Blacks to not vote for him. It is twilight for the Democratic party.

    — Fred D.    Aug 27, 04:09 PM    #

50. #25 –

    I am definitely not joking. I stand by everthing I wrote.

    No question that mistakes were made in the way we approached the war in Iraq, but adjustments were made. GWB put GEN Dave Petraeus in charge over there (one of the most intelligent men, if not THE most intelligent man I’ve ever known). We conducted the “surge”, and now we are actually seriously talking about withdrawing – with victory – over the next year and a half. Victory being defined as an Iraq that is stable enough to manage its own security issues.

    By the way, GWB’s SAT score prior to entering Yale was 1206 (566 Verbal, 640 Math). That was in the days prior to the recentering of scores, so that is probably about the same as a total score of 1300 today. Those that know say that, based on his SAT score, his IQ is probably 126 or so. Not too shabby.

    — FB    Aug 27, 04:50 PM    #

51. Excuse me, folks…but I thought that Barak Obama was half white! Seems like he’s the perfect candidate to please two-thirds of the country!

    — Troll    Aug 27, 05:12 PM    #

52. This is supposed to be a “higher education” site so lets make comments that are, at the very least, thought through. The reality is that some of the above comments are more like raw material for a stand-up routine. I have to respond to FB for his entries in no. 18 and 54. He thinks an IQ of 126 is ‘not too shabby’. Well maybe for a truck driver. For president, I was thinking more like 162. Maybe FB transposed the numbers. And while I agree that common sense and good character are definitely attributes that one wants in a president, in 50 years, the total absence of those traits in GWB will be even more apparent than they are today (unless you are employed in the oil industry). Even the people who voted for him don’t think he’s doing a good job as his approval ratings set record lows.

    As to Barack only winning because he’s black is particularly funny considering the first critcisim was “he isn’t black enough”. The republicans don’t want him as president because their consituency (the wealthy) doesn’t like his policies but that can’t be used as a campaign point because his constituency (the working and middle classes) want universal health care, progressive taxation, sound social security and alternative energy. The only course open to republicans is to attack him on non policy grounds, like he’s too inexperienced (as if GWB’s 8 years as governor were magically better than the lenger legislative experience of Barack in Illinois and Washington or he’s only winning because he’s black.

    — hss46    Aug 27, 05:15 PM    #

53. Personally, I’m tired of the “good ole boy” attitude thrust upon the USA, our allies, our enemies, and the in-betweens. It’s time for a president of the United States of America to present a stance that is intelligent, thoughtful, and well-mannered. Oh, yes, an intelligent person that doesn’t know all the answers at least knows how to look for them.

    — Troll    Aug 27, 05:23 PM    #

54. I think Caroline Kennedy would be considered wealthy and a trust fund baby and in line for an ambassadorship if Obama’s elected. Personally I think it is wonderful that Obama chose a stay at home mom to pick his VP who isn’t a PhD and who probably doesn’t have an IQ above 126 herself. The republican constituency is not necessary “wealthy” (remember the rural, god and gun loving bumpkins that Obama abhors?), but they seem to believe in the family values that Obama’s parents do not. Obama’s mother may have woke up at 4 am for TWO years before she sent him off to granny’s so she could be a well educated anthropologist, but that does not qualify her to give the opinion and judgment of a parent who may or may not have an IQ of 126. Sadly, too many PhDs act like children and not like parents and I hope they are not policy makers because of it.

    — JAS    Aug 27, 06:18 PM    #

55. per #18 / 54 (I’ve also said this before and) “I’ll say it again – I am convinced that in 50 years GWB will be considered one of our better presidents. Future analysis will show that Saddam and his son’s HAD to be dealt with, and GWB had the courage to do so. Ensuring our national security is, after all, the primary function of the President and Commander-in-Chief.”

    and: “I’ve also said this before, and I’ll say it again – common sense and character are far more important traits of a good leader than intelligence is.”

    and finally: “I am definitely not joking. I stand by everthing I wrote… We conducted the “surge”, and now we are actually seriously talking about withdrawing – with victory – over the next year and a half.”

    Well FB, at least you’re consistent with your delusions. Or you’re using the standard right-wing reactionary tactic of repeating falsehoods to the point where you actually believe what you’re wishing was the truth. In reality, Sadam did NOT need to be dealt with – unless you think it’s the job of the U.S. to police every little pip-squeek dictator who comes along. If so, good luck with that! LOL What history will record is that this president – an alcoholic crack-head until his 40’s – has presided over the MOST DISASTEROUS debacle of an administration in the history of the U.S. The country is over our heads in debt – in spite of coming into office with a surplus that was actually paying down the national debt. He is directly responsible for over 4000 of our best young men and women now dead with many thousands more gravely injured. His administration has done its best to shred the Constitution while diligently transfering as much money as possible from the middle & lower classes to the richest 1% of the nation. Stick a fork in him – he’s done!

    To Michael (#50) “Al Gore flunked out of every grad schools.” … “since 99& of profs voted liberals” … “And every dissertation need to fit”

    Maybe if you could write grammatically correct sentences and produce even slightly logical arguments, then I would tend to at least consider what you have to say. Throwing out unfounded statistics with NO back-up reference and not even understanding subject / verb tense undermines whatever you are attempting to say. Or maybe you’re just an honors graduate of the George Bush School of English.

    — Gary    Aug 27, 06:30 PM    #

56. You all have too much time on your hands, as opposed to Obama who is giving his every waking moment to position himself to stop the nightmare of the last 8 years.

    — Ellen    Aug 27, 07:33 PM    #

57. Let us remember that this is a free country and people are entitled to use the money they work for in a manner that is most appropriate for them. This includes University professors who wish to make political donations Where has democracy gone?

    — Stevel    Aug 27, 07:39 PM    #

58. I’d rather hang around with mothers that know how to cook than dried up old Saul Alinksy radicals with bad lawns. You have guts, #62, criticizing Hillary Clinton after the bang up job she did last night. Let’s see the smoke over Obama’s speech tomorrow.

    — JAS    Aug 27, 07:55 PM    #

59. I am amazed by the amount of anti-intellectualism on a formum focusing on higher education. Is there really something bad about “smart” and “educated”?

    Also – If what someone said above about GWB’s SAT scores is right, it really underlines what I have said a number of timesin this forum about the value of standardized tests! He strikes me as someone who would strugle to get a C in any rigorous class.

    — John    Aug 28, 01:16 AM    #

60. Oops! Of course I meant “forum.”

    — John    Aug 28, 01:18 AM    #

61. “As for me, I want a President who is evidence based, exercises good judgement, listens to those who disagree and does not alienate and marginalize those with different viewpoints. Obama shows a record of behaving in this manner.”

    Which is why Obama at first refused to acknowledge that the surge in Iraq was reducing violence, then claimed that he had always said that the surge would reduce violence, a blatant lie (apparently the oh-so-smart senator is unaware that we have had the ability to capture words and images for future playback for over 100 years), and is so tolerant of dissent that he has tried to get the Justice Department to go after groups who run ads he doesn’t like.

    But the problem with Obama (other than his disturbing lack of tolerance for dissent), is not that he is an elitist, it is that he is a snob. It is not that he has refined sensibilities, it is that he looks down on those who do not; his comments about “bitter” people who “cling” to their guns and religion is evidence of this. This has been a problem for the Democrats for years: not that they are the smartest people in the room (which is highly disputable), but that they have a “my you-know-what doesn’t stink” attitude. Bush and McCain, whatever their other faults, and despite their nontypical backgrounds, don’t come across as looking down on other people.

    And this is why Obama does so well with academics, because, after two decades in academia, I would be hard pressed to find a profession with a higher percentage of arrogant snobs than the professoriate. It is merely like calling to like.

    — Scott    Aug 28, 11:49 PM    #

62. Although I disagree with the radical right stance of some of these posts, at least this CHE blogs allows for true diversity based upon ideas, not chromosomes. Little intellectual diversity is evinced in too many prestigious colleges in the liberal arts and soft sciences depts., just as the military is generally dominated by the Right.

    — whatup    Aug 29, 01:21 AM    #

63. # 1 and #2 — Waaaaaaaa. Cry babies.

    — boredfeet    Aug 29, 08:17 AM    #

64. Posting at this point may reveal a truer sense of the bump from the Dem. nomination. Obama-49%, McCain-41%.

    No matter what/whom one reads, neither of the gents has been able to crack 50%, and this is essential to bring home the bacon.

    — Peggy    Aug 30, 06:33 PM    #

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