DOUBLY DUPED :

The Rove Doctrine (PAUL KRUGMAN, 6/11/02, NY Times)

If the past 18 months have been what policy looks like with Mr. Rove only partly in control, one shudders to think what comes next. For the most distinctive feature of Mr. Rove's modus operandi is not his conservatism; it's his view that the administration should do whatever gives it a political advantage. This includes, of course, exploiting the war on terrorism--something Mr. Rove has actually boasted about. But it also includes coddling special interests.

One of Bill Clinton's underappreciated virtues was his considerable idealism when it came to economic policy. The Berkeley economist Brad DeLong lauded Mr. Clinton's "record of being willing to take major political risks in order to do what he thinks is right for the country as far as international economic policy is concerned." What he had in mind was the way Mr. Clinton went out on a limb, defying the polls and reaching across party lines, to pass the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1993, and the even bigger risks he took to rescue Mexico from its financial crisis in 1995. Like Mr. DeLong, I know some of the key players in both of those decisions, and I'm sure that they were taken on the merits: the Clintonites really, truly believed they were doing the right thing.

Mr. Krugman, it will surprise no one, has fallen for the planted story about the takeover of American government by Karl Rove (who it might be worth noting was not even informed about last week's "biggest reorganization of American government since Harry Truman" until the day it was announced). Pundits like Mr. Krugman were pretty much the target audience and can be relied on to trumpet their worries over the mounting conservatism of the White House, which should calm down the red-meat Right.

More surprising, since he's at least ostensibly an economist, is that Mr. Krugman fell for the idea of Brad DeLong as some kind of impartial observer of politics. The more obsessive political junkies among us fondly recall the humiliation Dr. DeLong brought upon himself when he posed as an expert witness for the Democrats during the Florida debacle. He was turned into a sweaty (I mean Spartacus levels of sweat), stuttering, laughingstock by Bush attorney Barry Richard. At one point, Dr. DeLong, who was proposing that absentee ballots be discarded in order to give Al Gore the lead, got off the memorable line : "Statisticians don't really like to deal with certainty." That's pretty bold for a statistician who was asking a court to disenfranchise voters.

At any rate, how much differently does Mr. Krugman's column read if you change this phrase "The Berkeley economist Brad DeLong lauded Mr. Clinton..." to this one "$500 an hour Gore advocate Brad DeLong lauded Mr. Clinton...". Somehow the centerpiece of Mr. Krugman's column seems less impressive, eh? It turns out that the disinterested second party to whom he turns for confirmation of his novel belief that the Clinton administration was bold, daring, and above playing politics with the economy is really just another paid political flak for the Democrats. Oops...

UPDATE :
But wait, it gets better. If you check out Dr. DeLong's website, you find that he served in the Clinton administration as Deputy Assistant Secretary of the United States Treasury for Economic Policy, where he humbly describes his duties as follows : "I worked on a remarkably large share of what the executive branch did between 1993 and 1995." So, in effect, Dr. Delong's quote might read : "I have a record of being willing to take major political risks in order to do what I think is right for the country..."

Does anyone edit the NY Times any more?

Posted by Orrin Judd at June 11, 2002 9:25 AM