Opinion | Criticism of Health Care Proposal of Presidential Candidate Clinton Raises Questions About Opponent Obama, Krugman Writes
[Apr 25, 2008]

Efforts to address the "real concerns of working Americans isn't the ... central theme" of the campaign of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.), as his campaign "has put far more energy into attacking" the health care proposal of opponent Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) than "promoting the idea of universal coverage," New York Times columnist Paul Krugman writes. According to Krugman, a television advertisement aired by the Obama campaign in Pennsylvania that made the "dishonest charge" that the Clinton proposal would "force people to buy health insurance they can't afford" offered "fear-mongering aimed at people who don't think they need insurance," rather than "reassurance for families who are trying to get coverage or are afraid of losing it."

Krugman writes, "The question Democrats ... should be asking themselves is this: Now that the magic has dissipated ... what are the Democrats for in this election?" He adds, "That should be an easy question to answer" because "Democrats can justly portray themselves as the party of economic security, the party that created Social Security and Medicare and defended those programs against Republican attacks," and the "party that can bring assured health coverage to all Americans" (Krugman, New York Times, 4/25).