Does Obama education at Columbia U. and Harvard Law mean anything about his judgment abilities?

Question

He was a Constitutional law "Senior Lecturer" for about ten years. Does academia help when it comes to making decisions? Furthermore, his education is never brought up do you think America have a secret hatred for the well educated? i.e. being out of touch with the average American, (being part of the elite)

http://www.factcheck.org/askfactcheck/was_barack_obama_really_a_constitutional_law.html

Answer 1

Yes, it does say a lot about his ability to make good critic decisions. This is the only time in history when getting a higher education is being painted as a negative thing. Probably because McCain graduated low in his class and his running mate has a journalism degree and they are afraid of the comparisons.

He couldn't be anymore in touch with the average American. He draws his support from average Americans.

Answer 2

No one ever brings up Obama's education?  What planet have you been living on for the past six months?

Answer 3

First for the people who insist on the BS he voted against the was you are uninformed he voted against funding he was not in the senate when the war vote was taken and that is why the undecided will not vote for him because of his back being to young and dumb. Secondly having a law degree does not make a person smart just look at the legal profession.

Answer 4

he is out of touch with reality...he acts like he is better than his own grandma...i mean come on its not education that people are scared of its..the big head that he got with his degree that turns people off him

Answer 5

makes him look out of touch with the common american who can't go to harvard or columbia, and seems to have set an air of elitism around him, that he IS God, and you SHOULD worship him.

Answer 6

A top notch education combined with sincerity for public service is great.

At least he's got some smarts, and teaching Constitutional Law is great experience with communicating tough concepts and having the judgement to appoint Supreme Court judges who will uphold and respect our Constitutional rights.

A thorough understanding of the Constitution should be necessary for any president.

Answer 7

Intelligent people are less likely to make huge mistakes like the numerous ones that Bush has made over the years.

Answer 8

Nothing whatsoever.

Answer 9

Yes, because he won't step all over the Constitution like Bush/Mc Cain the ignorants.

Answer 10

I'd rather have common sense making good decisions than having the best education offered.

When one lacks good common sense and good judgments it shows when they open their mouths.

So back to square one, we still haven't gotten a straight answer from Obama on what changes he's talking about making.  

Answer 11

thanks in great part to affirmative action.

Answer 12

Absolutely nothing. People are naive when they get out of college. They need some experience to develop good judgment.

Liberal elite? Yes, that's where Obama is. If you want down to Earth, I would suggest Sarah Palin.

Answer 13

means he picked a good college. ANYONE can do that...but it doesnt make them worthy to be president. lets just hope that he is genuine in his motives. did you also know that the one's that masterminded the 9/11 terrorist attacks, were done by "students" in college...HERE in the US!

Answer 14

All that education didn't help him get much of a job out of school.

Answer 15

He had enough good judgement to go to those particular schools....

If being smart makes you elite then it is good to be elite....

truth is I do not believe that one equates with the other....

it's funny if mccain graduated at the top of his class they would scream about it as much as they do about him being a pow.....now education means "nothing"....

Answer 16

He had the good sense to vote against the war in Iraq

He had the good sense to carefully select a qualified VP

Answer 17

So he was book smart. Doesn't mean anything.  

Answer 18

Exactly. Graduating at the top of your class  doesnt necessarily mean good judgement.

Look at the great job Bush has done,

and he didnt have much of an education!

Answer 19

i think Americans know that unless one is very strong minded, a university or college is apt to brainwash a student into Marxism.

i don't think it is a secret hatred for the well-educated, it's a very UNsecret hatred of liberal indoctrination.  that also goes for k-12 education.

PS: and if Obama is an expert on Constitutional Law, then why in heaven's name would he threaten the free press?  you know, that little thing called the 1st Amendment?

conservatives want facts taught, not ideological brainwashing.  pretty simple.

Answer 20

he smoked crack in college,nuff said!

Answer 21

No.

But, it does tell me that he's smart enough to know his limitations and to surround himself with people who are strong in areas he's weak in.

Answer 22

No, it just shows that he took advantage of the funding that was available to him. Almost anyone can get into Harvard, after all, they do have a 70%+ admission rate

Answer 23

Education means diddly-over-squat when it comes to judgment.  Can't tell you how many Ph.D.'s I've met that can't balance their own checkbooks or even pick out a suit, shirt and tie for an evening fundraiser.  Obama's education doesn't qualify him to be anything other than a college graduate.  Besides, as has already been pointed out, those who live in the halls of academia are so far out of touch with real life it's not funny.

Makes me think of another man who ran for President who was touted for his intelligence and education, not to mention his compassion and humanitarianism -- Jimmy Carter.

Answer 24

Yes, it does.

These people are not only in politics. There is a good reason why some of them have executive powers and are extremely well paid in the free market.

Answer 25

No.  This has very little to nothing to do with his judgement.  Many idiot and disreputable people has similar educations...

A persons judgement can been seen through who they choose as friends.  Who they choose to associate with and how they choose to live.  If you can get close enough to them you can elso see evidence of good/bad judgement in how they react to problems.

No, I do not believe people are biased agianst the "well educated".

Many of us however have relatively low opions of the "book smart" people.  Being an engineer myself I can't tell you how many problems I've seen becasue someone with letter behind their name thought they knew best.  To believe you know better than someone else just because of your education is a fools errand.  Experience counts for far more.  

Education is a HUGE starting point, but it is NOT everything, nor should it be.

Answer 26

I think Obama's education is a positive thing.

Academia doesn't necessarily help with making decisions though.  Some people in academia are out of touch with the rest of the world, and I think that is why there is this hatred towards the 'elite' from the average American.

This hatred is misguided though.  The hard working academics are not the enemy.  We need to improve our education system so that more people can be highly educated, especially in science and mathematics.  Our nation is falling behind in both science and math quite rapidly.