NYT's Krugman Celebrates Finding One Obamacare Enrollee

In a blog post titled “Obamacare Success,” progressive New York Times columnist Paul Krugman took a victory lap of sorts after finding and speaking to one person who signed up for Obamacare, now over two weeks into its unveiling. 

“This shows that people are starting to trickle through,” wrote Krugman. “I know, one example–but the plural of anecdote is data.” 

For months, Krugman has blasted “the sheer meanspiritedness of Obamacare opponents” who warned the program was a train wreck coming down. In May, Krugman boldly declared that “the real Obamacare shock will be one of unexpected success” wherein “millions of Americans will suddenly gain health coverage” and “only a relative handful of people will be hurt at all.” 

More recently, on the day the Obamacare exchanges went live, Krugman explained to readers that the torrent of technical failures were “good news, not bad, for the program.” 

Now, with CBS News declaring Obamacare “a complete disaster,” progressive Washington Post writer Ezra Klein calling the Obamacare launch a “failure,” the New York Times saying the Obamacare collapse “has deeply embarrassed the White House,” and former Obama Press Secretary Robert Gibbs calling for firings over the Obamacare meltdown, Krugman concedes that “obviously they messed up the programming big time, which is kind of a shock.” 

Still, Krugman says in his “Conscience of a Liberal” New York Times blog, “Republicans believing that they’re going to be able to run against the program a year from now” will be disappointed. 

According to an Associated Press poll, just 7% of Americans believe the Obamacare rollout has “gone well.” The Real Clear Politics Obamacare average of polls finds just 38% of Americans support President Obama’s signature legislative achievement.