Obama's Opportunity To Be Bold

Paul Krugman writing in today's New York Times notes that the Republican Party has employed a racist "Southern Strategy" since 1981. The complete failure of George Bush's presidency, Krugman argues, coincides with the abandoment of the Republicans by more tolerant American voters.

Hence:

Mr. Obama therefore has room to be bold. If Republicans try a 1993-style strategy of attacking him for promoting big government, they’ll learn two things: not only has the financial crisis discredited their economic theories, the racial subtext of anti-government rhetoric doesn’t play the way it used to.

Will the Republicans eventually stage a comeback? Yes, of course. But barring some huge missteps by Mr. Obama, that will not happen until they stop whining and look at what really went wrong. And when they do, they will discover that they need to get in touch with the real “real America,” a country that is more diverse, more tolerant, and more demanding of effective government than is dreamt of in their political philosophy.