In which The Gay Recluse scores selected opinion pieces in The Times.

Paul Krugman/The Anxiety Election

The Short Version: It’s the economy, stupid.

In his words: “[Democrats] can contrast the Clinton boom with the Bush bust; they can make the case that Republican economic ideology, with its fixation on privatization and deregulation, helped get us into this mess.”

Score: D+ (Dour)
There’s nothing really wrong with this column, but there’s nothing really right about it, either. Anytime a columnist starts parading around USA Today polls to support the obvious, we know we’re in for a long read. Krugman’s continuous whining about Obama is also getting on our nerves.

David Brooks/Playing by Clinton Rules

The Short Version: Obama should not betray the core message of his campaign (which also btw needs to be better defined).

In his words: “As the trench warfare stretches on through the spring, the excitement of Obama-mania will seem like a distant, childish mirage.”

The Score: A- (Astute)
Brooks delivers a lucid analysis of what’s happening to Obama post-Ohio and forcefully makes the case that he’s headed in the wrong direction.