The Media Mob

An Obama-Krugman Détente?

Getty Images

One of the strange subplots to the Democratic primary race has been the ongoing feud between the Obama campaign and liberal New York Times columnist Paul Krugman. Mr. Krugman has argued that Sen. Obama's healthcare plan is too incremental, and more generally, that the senator's intention of working with Republicans and their allies, rather than taking them on, is naive and doomed to failure.

But could there be a thaw in the relationship? A few days ago, Sen. Obama told Tim Russert that his healthcare plan might involve a penalty for those who didn't get insurance, in order to deter the problem of free-riders and get closer to universality -- something Mr. Krugman had been calling for. In response, the Times-man sounded optimistic.

That's good news for Sen. Obama. It's not that Mr. Krugman, or any other opinion columnist, has the power to deliver many votes. But he is an important opinion-shaper for the liberal wing of the Democratic party, and ongoing beef would not have been in the senator's interest.

  • del.icio.us
  • Digg
  • Reddit
  • Newsvine
  • Google
  • Yahoo
  • Technorati
  • Facebook
  • Stumble Upon
  • Netvibes
  • Windows Live

Comments
Post a comment

Bob Skilnik (not verified) says:

Well there you go. Obama'a Marxist health plan now meets the approval of an opinion columnist, Krazy Krugman.

Don't we all feel better now?

BTW, what's with Krugman's eyes? Can he see through walls with those kugels or is he simply deranged?

JT Lancer (not verified) says:

Hillary Clinton said that she would be willing to have workers' wages garnisheed if they refuse to buy health insurance to achieve coverage for all Americans.

If her compulsory government health care plan is so great, why must citizens be coerced into participation? If a private business tried to force workers to buy their health insurance plans, there would be universal condemnation.

Post a comment

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
  • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
  • Allowed HTML tags: <a> <em> <strong> <cite> <code> <ul> <ol> <li> <dl> <dt> <dd><br> <p> <i> <b> <embed> <img> <blockquote> <span> <strikethrough> <u>
  • Use <!--pagebreak--> to create page breaks.

More information about formatting options

By checking this box you are giving permission for Observer staff to contact you to obtain contact information and permissions required for publication.