KRUGMAN: "Not being Donald Trump doesn’t make someone a moderate, or even halfway reasonable."

[kpete]

Paul Krugman:
Liberals need to be careful about “Trumpenfreude” or conservatives will “double down on W.”
"Not being Donald Trump doesn’t make someone a moderate, or even halfway reasonable," Krugman reminds us

..............

..........you might have expected the debacle of George W. Bush’s presidency — a debacle not just for the nation, but for the Republican Party, which saw Democrats both take the White House and achieve some major parts of their agenda — to inspire some reconsideration of W-type policies. What we’ve seen instead is a doubling down, a determination to take whatever didn’t work from 2001 to 2008 and do it again, in a more extreme form.

............

The point is that while the mainstream contenders may have better manners than Mr. Trump or the widely loathed Mr. Cruz, when you get to substance it becomes clear that all of them are frighteningly radical, and that none of them seem to have learned anything from past disasters.

Why does this matter? Right now conventional wisdom, as captured by the bookies and the betting markets, suggests even or better-than-even odds that Mr. Trump or Mr. Cruz will be the nominee, in which case everyone will be aware of the candidate’s extremism. But there’s still a substantial chance that the outsiders will falter and someone less obviously out there — probably Mr. Rubio — will end up on top.

And if this happens, it will be important to realize that not being Donald Trump doesn’t make someone a moderate, or even halfway reasonable. The truth is that there are no moderates in the Republican primary, and being reasonable appears to be a disqualifying characteristic for anyone seeking the party’s nod.


http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/28/opinion/doubling-down-on-w.html

[Scuba]

1. No, but it's a good start!

[Agnosticsherbet]

2. Any Republican insider who mange to beat Trump or Cruz

Last edited Mon Dec 28, 2015, 04:44 PM - Edit history (1)

Will be hailed as a moderate.

The nature of this election for a third in a row Democratic administration gives a Republican that can be sold as a moderate an advantage.

I don't think Cruz or Trump can win. Others have a chance

[Martin Eden]

6. Agreed

I also agree with Krugman that Rubio is the most likely candidate to win the nomination if it's not Trump or Cruz.

[JonLeibowitz]

3. It is amusing that this title perfectly captures what is wrong with Hillary Clinton as well. n/t

[CrispyQ]

4. I think that this is the whole point of Trump - to make the others look moderate,

in spite of the fact that they are anything but. Cruz & Rubio scare me more than Trump, but they appear more 'reasonable' than the bloviating egomaniac.

[Solly Mack]

5. K&R

[eppur_se_muova]

7. I just had an epiphany of sorts ... I just realized ...

that W couldn't win with this year's Repug base. Too soft on immigration, pals around with Muslims.

And his Dad ? Mister "thousand points of light", Mr. "kinder, gentler, America" ? Puhleeeese. He'd be called a 'libtard' by this bunch.

Even Dick Cheney could be a drag on the ticket.