Letters to the Editor
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An excellent New Republic piece on this written back in February
"Why Is Paul Krugman So Hostile To Barack Obama?
Paul Krugman has written a number of pieces that are highly critical of Barack Obama. Krugman is a distinguished economist as well as an exceptional writer, and on issues of substance, he raises reasonable questions and offers plausible objections. But as many people have noticed, the tone and intensity of Krugman's pieces are puzzling. It seems almost personal--a kind of campaign.
What accounts for this?
I don't know the full answer, but here's a significant part of it: Krugman and Obama have different approaches to political disagreement. Krugman likes partisanship, and Obama does not. In a revealing column in January 2007, Krugman cited Obama's lament that "politics has become so bitter and partisan," and rejected the Senator's suggestion that we have to become less partisan in order to solve our problems. In Krugman's view, we need an FDR, not a consensus-seeking Eisenhower. Politicians have "to tackle the big problems despite bitter partisan opposition."
Link:http://blogs.tnr.com/tnr/blogs/open_university/archive/2008/02/11/why-is-paul-krugman-so-hostile-to-barack-obama.aspx
Like I said Krugman HATES Obama. We're talking Taylor Marsh/ Geraldine Ferraro/Lanny Davis level of dislike for Obama.
He makes Joan Walsh look like a bigger supporter of Barack Obama than anyone else.
So why anyone would even publish, let alone take seriously, Krugman's critiques of Obama is beyond me.