Last week, Barack Obama told the Reno Gazette editorial board that Ronald Reagan built a broad coalition and realigned American politics, and Bill Clinton didn't. This is a true fact. Another true fact is that for Democrats to build a broad coalition at any point in the near future, they'll have to win the support of a lot of people who voted for and admire Reagan. 

Paul Krugman apparently prefers the Mondale model of electoral politics. "Where in his remarks," Krugman asks plaintively, "was the clear declaration that Reaganomics failed?" Got that? The Party says Reagan was bad; therefore, one must not mention Reagan without mentioning his badness, even in a completely unrelated context. To do so is to license the inference that one is a deviationist. So, what is to be done with the Renegade Obama?

For bonus points, guess which prospective Democratic candidate for president said that "Reagan's policies…certainly accelerated the trend [of victory in the Cold War]."  Guess which Democratic candidate advertises her evaluation of Reagan as one of her favorite presidents on her website. (Whoops, gave that last one away.) Guess which New York Times columnist won't be denouncing the Clintons later this week.