"THE DIVINE RIGHT OF PUNDITS: Barack Obama will likely be the Democratic nominee in the fall. If that’s what happens, it’s fine with us—but will he be able to win in November? We can imagine him winning big—and we can imagine him losing. But we were struck by the way two pundits discussed this important question today. Their efforts made us consider two issues—“race,” and the sense of entitlement.
Let’s start with Paul Krugman, who has favored Clinton, talking about what has to be done to help Obama win. In particular, Krugman discusses the things that have to be done to encourage blue-collar white Democrats—a group which includes so-called “Reagan Democrats”—cto cast their lot with Obama:
KRUGMAN (5/9/08): More tirades from Obama supporters against Mrs. Clinton are not the answer—they will only further alienate her grass-roots supporters, many of whom feel that she received a raw deal.
Nor is it helpful to insult the groups that supported Mrs. Clinton, either by suggesting that racism was their only motivation or by minimizing their importance..."
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