If you’re curious about precisely how frightened the Democrat establishment is over Scott Walker, you need look no further than today’s edition of Morning Joe. In a short segment on Governor Scott Walker’s recent trip to London and the flap over his answer on evolution, former Vermont Governor (and famously screaming presidential candidate himself) Howard Dean joined the panel, along with Donny Deutsch. When the evolution question came up, Dean launched into a desperate attack on the Governor’s intellect which left even the hosts stunned.

Howard Dean: This is a particular problem for Scott Walker which has not been an issue yet, but it will. Scott Walker, were he to become president, would be the first president in many generations who did not have a college degree. So the issue here is not just the issue of dancing around the question of evolution for political reasons, the issue is, how well educated is this guy?

Joe Scarborough: Are you serious?

HD: I’m absolutely serious.

JS: Are you serious?

Donny Deutsch: He didn’t finish his senior year so he didn’t get all the stuff.

JS: Because he didn’t get his degree?

HD: I think a lot of people are going to be worried about this.

JS: Do you worry about people who don’t finish college?

HD: I worry about people not knowing much about the world and not knowing much about science.

JS: Let’s name the people who didn’t finish college and who have changed this world. Did Bill Gates finish college?

HD: Bill Gates is a little different. Nobody is accusing Scott Walker of having the intellect of Bill Gates.

JS: Well nobody is accusing Scott Walker of being dumb because he didn’t finish college except you.

HD: I didn’t say dumb. I said unknowledgeable. […]

Willie Geist: And how do you know he’s unknowledgeable? He’s knowledgeable about what goes on in his state.

JS: And what the hell does that have to do with him answering the question the way he did, or were you just taking a cheap shot?

HD: Because evolution is a widely accepted scientific construct, and people who don’t believe in evolution either do it for hard right religious reasons or because they don’t know anything.

It goes on with more of the same, but this is a fairly remarkable look into what the DNC’s strategy will be in 2016 if Walker is the nominee or even sufficiently in the lead to the point where they are worried about him. The Washington Post has already gone out with the dark, foreboding headlines citing lingering questions and the mystery surrounding the circumstances of Walker’s departure from Marquette.

For his part, Walker has already solved this “mystery” numerous times.

“During my senior year at Marquette University, I was offered a full-time job at the American Red Cross. I thought I would squeeze in a course here or there and finish things off in a year or two, but then Tonette and I got married,” Walker said in his State of the State speech in 2013. “Next thing you know, you’re putting all your extra time and money into your kids.”

Howard Dean’s fears are obviously well founded. I mean, look how much missing that last semester has held Walker back, only being elected governor three times and all.

For a bit of historical perspective on the media treatment of Walker vs other notable figures, Red State’s Joe Cunningham takes us for a little walk down memory lane with a look at another candidate in 2008 who had a college history which the press couldn’t have been less interested in.

[T]here is one thing that makes Walker different from other potential presidential candidates – he never finished college. And, the college life of a presidential candidate didn’t seem to concern the media in 2008 when no one decided to vet Obama’s collegiate career or figure out what the hell he might have done (aside from drugs!) in college. In 2016, it suddenly matters.

Given our site survey results, most of the people reading Hot Air knew Walker was the real deal a while go. If you needed proof that the media and the Democrats are catching on to that fact, this is all that is required. It’s really quite phenomenal to watch from the sidelines.

The video of the Dean interview from MSNBC linked above is not embeddable at this time. If I find one which is (and isn’t autoplay) I’ll add it in here.

UPDATE: (Jazz) Video added.