In an interestingly bitter MSM vs. MSM fight, Jonathan Alter rips Paul Krugman for calling Barack Obama “naive” and urging a more populist tone in his health care policies.
Krugman is a populist. He writes that if nominated, Obama would win, “but not as big as a candidate who ran on a more populist platform.” This is facile and ahistorical. How many 20th Century American presidents have been elected on a populist platform? That would be zero, Paul. You could even include Al Gore, who won the popular vote in 2000. Instead of exploiting the peace and prosperity of the 1990s, Gore ran on a “people vs. the powerful” message. It never ignited.
At issue is whether to negotiate with drug and health insurance companies, or whether to exclude them from setting policy and try to bulldoze them in policymaking.
Ordinarily when I’m watching two groups I oppose duke it out, I root for injuries. But in this case, Alter has the more persuasive argument…