The Daily Howler - 10/14/05

STILL ASKING! But what will happen to Baltimore’s kids? Jonathan Kozol’s still asking: // link // print // previous // next //

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2005

KRUGMAN GETS IT RIGHT: Three cheers for Paul Krugman! Somehow, he’s able to state a simple fact—a simple fact which most career liberals still avoid like a bad case of plague:

KRUGMAN (10/14/05): I don't believe that I'm any better than the average person at judging other people's character...

But many people in the news media do claim, at least implicitly, to be experts at discerning character—and their judgments play a large, sometimes decisive role in our political life. The 2000 election would have ended in a chad-proof victory for Al Gore if many reporters hadn't taken a dislike to Mr. Gore, while portraying Mr. Bush as an honest, likable guy. The 2004 election was largely decided by the image of Mr. Bush as a strong, effective leader.

So it's important to ask why those judgments are often so wrong.