Thursday, May 17, 2012

Quote of the Day - R.I.P. "Americans Elect"

Paul Krugman on the flop that is/was "Americans Elect":
"...Americans Elect, a lavishly funded 'centrist' group that was supposed to provide an alternative to traditional political parties, has been a ridiculous flop. Basically, about seven people were actually excited about the venture — all of them political pundits. Actual voters couldn’t care less. [snip]

"So why Americans Elect? Because there exists in America a small class of professional centrists, whose stock in trade is denouncing the extremists in both parties and calling for a middle ground. And this class cannot, as a professional matter, admit that there already is a centrist party in America, the Democrats — that the extremism they decry is all coming from one side of the political fence. Because if they admitted that, they’d just be moderate Democrats, with no holier-than-thou pedestal to stand on." (my emphasis)

Somewhere, Tom Friedman is having a sad.

1 comment:

Silver Spring Bureau Chief said...

It's a shame Krugman doesn't call out Friedman in the post. At least we can hope Friedman reads his colleagues' material.