Krugman: Obama Win Might End in a Loss

Tomorrow's Paul Krugman column asserts that Obama is likely headed for a convincing win, and therefore the federal "safety net," under strong attack, now appears safe.  But then he adds: Is it? 

I ask that question because we already know what Mr. Obama will face if re-elected: a clamor from Beltway insiders demanding that he immediately return to his failed political strategy of 2011, in which he made a Grand Bargain over the budget deficit his overriding priority. Now is the time, he’ll be told, to fix America’s entitlement problem once and for all. There will be calls — as there were at the time of the Democratic National Convention — for him to officially endorse Simpson-Bowles, the budget proposal issued by the co-chairmen of his deficit commission (although never accepted by the commission as a whole).

And Mr. Obama should just say no, for three reasons.

In short:  Simpson-Bowles sucks, but the same insiders who boosted Ryan as a serious fellow still take it seriously.  He concludes:  ?This election is, as I said, shaping up as a referendum on our social insurance system, and it looks as if Mr. Obama will emerge with a clear mandate for preserving and extending that system. It would be a terrible mistake, both politically and for the nation’s future, for him to let himself to be talked into snatching defeat from the jaws of victory."