Via Kevin comes speculation about Barack Obama's odd penchant for using conservative rhetoric - first on social security reform, then on healthcare universality - to attack Paul Krugman and his campaign opponents:
Obama is trying to win the 'media primary' . ... My suspicion is that Barack is attempting to appease/manipulate the class of establishment pundits, and with them the press corps as a whole. ... By making noises about Social Security and [healthcare] mandates, Obama is feeding the media beast. Heck, it might even work, if recent polls are any evidence.
Kevin thinks there's probably something to this. To me, though, this all sounds like too much wishful thinking. What sounds more plausible - the Occam's razor explanation - is that Barack Obama isn't as progressive as some might like. Pre-election position on the war notwithstanding, his brief Senate career hasn't been marked by a Paul Wellstone-esque record, and, perhaps more to the point, he has staked his whole candidacy on the idea that he can build alliances with people who lie about policy as a part of a political survival strategy.
When looked at from that perspective, doesn't it seem like a bit of a bank-shot strategy for Obama to take essentially illiberal positions on prominent issues in a Democratic primary to win over the national media?
