Darcy Burner: Dismal Scientist or Liar?

With only a couple weeks till election day, it's nice to see that the Reichert–Burner race has become downright pissy. The latest skirmish is over Darcy Burner's academic credentials. This morning, Seattle Times reporter Emily Heffter took the Republican bait and wrote a piece questioning the veracity of Burner's claim—made during the debate on Oct. 10—that she has a degree in economics from Harvard.

In recent weeks, congressional candidate Darcy Burner has touted her Harvard degree in economics when talking about the nation's financial crisis and her opposition to the bailout package passed by Congress...But while Burner studied economics at Harvard, she doesn't have a degree in the subject.

Whether or not this is true is a somewhat tricky question. Harvard doesn't offer minors, so a dual focus is run through your major department and unlike with a true minor, you have to write a thesis conjoining the two. Apparently, it's pretty hard (like getting into Harvard).

That said, Burner, strictly speaking, does not have a degree in economics—she has a degree in computer science with an economics focus, and anyway, the idea that an undergrad education gives her the deep knowledge of economic problems to help lead us out of our current morass is a rather tenuous proposition.

At the same time, rabid left-wing blogs have responded by launching attacks against the Times. A post over at DailyKos charges: "The real story happening in the 8th Congressional District, which the Times intrepid reporter seems intent upon ignoring, is the illegal loan Reichert has received to run his advertising."

Turns out, that claim was wrong. Heffter noted the Reichert ad controversy, saying, "The Burner campaign filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission alleging that Reichert's recent purchase of television ads on credit was effectively an illegal corporate loan," and further noted that the charges regarding Burner's education originated with the Republican National Congressional Committee.

Pic of Darcy Burner at the King Co. Dem Convention courtesy of Seattlest Flickr pool photog ntisocl