I thought the "400 hundred dollar haircut!?" criticism of Edwards was bullshit, and while this is on a grander scale, it seems similarly beside the point to me. Yes, campaigning costs a lot of money. Yes, it's disingenuous to portray yourself as Laura Ingalls Wilder while spending money on your wardrobe like Paris Hilton. But the fact is she'll be photographed every second of the day and we the public place certain demands on appearance.

PHILLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

She probably shouldn't have said she "has a degree in economics"... but I don't think it's that big of a deal. There's not really a succinct way to explain how the specialization thing works at Harvard.

I majored in chemistry and minored in anthropology and I typically just say I "studied chemistry and anthropology" rather than I "got my degree in". She probably would have been better off saying something like that...

The story in the Times is totally legit, and I'm a big-time lib. Burner was playing semantics intentionally. You do NOT say you have a degree in something when you don't. Period. The comeback by Sandeep (something to the effect of saying she has an emphasis in economics "doesn't roll off the tongue") may be the dopiest and weakest response from a political consultant in this state all year.

Reichert was sheriff. But he can't say he has a degree in criminal justice. She took classes, several classes even, in economics. But the fact is she does not have a degree in economics. Period.

Burner herself said she needed to use "shorthand" to describe her educational background. OK, how's this?

Instead of "she earned a B.A. from Harvard in computer science and economics" how about "she graduated from Harvard with extensive studies in economics and computer science." It's spin. It even puts economics ahead of computer science. But at least it's factual.

What Burner has done here, I think, is confirm concerns that those of us who have monitored Burner's career closely already have ... she hasn't paid her dues and believes she is above doing so.

Sorry, brother and sister libs, but she's a really lousy candidate and hers is a really embarrassing campaign. And this inexcusable gaffe, built upon the kind of smugness and arrogance that we come to expect from the GOP, just confirmed it.