Paul Krugman and Dana Goldstein point out that Barack Obama's post-partisanship stance may alienate progressives and hurt him in the Democratic primary. As Dana puts it:
For Obama, this race is more about taking America back from divisive partisanship than about taking American back from divisive, hard-right conservative Republicanism in particular, which is, truth be told, the major cause of our problems. His frame might be a savvy way to win a general election, but as a closer in dead heat primary states, I'm skeptical.
That's a fair argument, except that there are indications that - as happened in 2004 - primary voters won't necessarily vote for the candidate who most embodies their values, but rather for the candidate they feel is the most "electable". Here's some anecdotal evidence, and some hard data from a new USA Today/Gallup poll:
In a shift, Democratic voters are almost evenly divided between those who want a nominee who agrees with them on almost all issues and those who want one with the best chance of beating the Republican candidate. Last month, they preferred an ideological match by 3-2.
Of course, as the caucuses draw near, discerning trends from the barrage of ever-changing poll data can be like trying to forecast the future from your morning coffee grounds. But it's an open question I think whether primary voters will vote with their hearts or their heads.
