Krugman: "Romney is in very serious trouble"

I've been arguing for a while that this is a Done Deal Election — partly because I agree and partly to avoid the Left-on-Left foodfight that seems to pop up during elections. To me, that seems a total waste of a coalition-building opportunity.

Now Paul Krugman weighs in, and offers evidence. His bottom line is in my headline — "Romney is in very serious trouble."

The Professor (my emphasis and paragraphing:

Plutocrats on Parade

Robin Wells has a very good essay on the Romney phenomenon in the Guardian. After all the whining over “class warfare”, the GOP has more or less forced an election that really is about the very rich versus everyone else — and the Romney supporters are so insulated by their wealth that they can’t even see the problem.

I would just chime in that I agree with Robin that Romney is in very serious trouble.

Think of the pattern that’s accumulating: the obfuscation over the Bain record on jobs, outsourcing, and all that, the mysterious offshore accounts (and the magical $100 million IRA), the stonewalling on past tax records, and now his insistence that he was no longer working at a company that continued to list him as CEO and pay him lots of money. ...

This could be famous last words, but it looks to me as if Romney is in the process of getting defined — and his party won’t like the results.

And for good measure, wait till this gets out. Remember the "nail ladies"?

So I was curious: what do “nails ladies” earn? The answer, according to the BLS Occupational Employment Statistics, is that in 2010 the mean annual wage of Manicurists and Pedicurists(395092) was $21,760.

Among other things, this means that nails ladies probably face a higher marginal effective tax rate than Romney donors.

After evidence that Romney is risking felony charges, throwing the "nail ladies" back in his face seems almost symbolic. He didn't even make the comment.

But then, what's an election anyway, but a heavily-financed wealth transfer to the big media companies, in exchange for broadcasting symbols that are almost never accurate?

So who knows — maybe it's the nail ladies who will finally sink him. He's close to sunk, it seems, if Krugman is right.

Why do I write this? Partly because I think he's right, The Professor, and partly to get progressives focused on the other important business at hand — what to do when Obama, Bane of Bain reverts to Obama, Friend of the Corporate Coup.

If Krugman is right, that's coming, and soon.

Did I mention, "Hope is not a plan"? Hope so.

We need a plan, I think, for December 2012 and beyond, and we need it fast. There's going to be a lot of work to do to head off the assault I greatly fear is coming.

Mes centimes,

GP

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