Ivy League Degrees, Elite Consulting Jobs, and Now Tea Party Candidacies

[deminks]

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/17/us/politics/ivy-league-degree-elite-consulting-job-and-now-tea-party-candidacy.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&smid=tw-nytimes

WASHINGTON — Ben Sasse and Tom Cotton have a lot in common: Republican candidacies for the Senate, Ivy League advanced degrees — a Yale Ph.D. for Mr. Sasse, a Harvard law degree for Mr. Cotton — and a tour of duty in the white-shoe world of management consulting.

One more thing: They are running as common-man conservatives from the heartland under the banner of the Tea Party.

The résumés of Mr. Sasse, who won the Republican primary in Nebraska on Tuesday, and Mr. Cotton, who is challenging Senator Mark Pryor, Democrat of Arkansas, do not exactly fit the profile of populists. That is especially true for the lines dedicated to the Boston Consulting Group and McKinsey & Company, firms that advise corporations on strategy, efficiency and ways to increase profitability.

In Mr. Sasse’s case, he has used ties to McKinsey to burnish his private sector credentials, but in the process, he has stretched the point. He says on his campaign website that he “joined McKinsey & Company, advising leaders in times of crisis.” He was actually a “special adviser” to the firm, on an hourly contract — never an employee.

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The definition of astroturf. Fake grass with no roots.

[yeoman6987]

1. Well it looks like Mr. Cotton is wasting his time

He will not beat Senator Pryor according to recent polling so he might as well go back to working at a Consulting Company. Mr. Sasse probably will be in the Senate in January 2017. Even though Mr. Cotton will lose the Senate Seat, he will make a ton more money then Mr. Sasse....isn't that just crazy?

[Wellstone ruled]

2. This Ben Sasse is one scary piece of crap

Nebraska has drifted into the Kansas realm of the Krotch Brothers. If this turd gets the Senate set,wow,that will make their state the most backward state in the Union. Wake up Huskers,the Krotch Brothers want to take you back to the stone age just to strip you of your money. Oh forgot,XL pipeline,though the Sand Hills,that's the ticket.

[namako]

3. Academic credentials don't mean spit

As a resident of Louisiana, I'm sure you're simply omitting, rather than forgetting, the academic background of two of our stellar political leaders: Piyush "Bobby" Jindal (Brown University, Rhodes Scholar) and David "Diaper" Vitter (Harvard, Rhodes Scholar).

[Populist_Prole]

5. Exactly. Any place will gladly take your money n/t