Economists like ponies too

By Creature

Paul Krugman--taking his longest jump over the shark tank yet--on what Senator Clinton's role should be in helping to unify the Democratic party:

Mrs. Clinton needs to do her part: she needs to be careful not to act as a spoiler during what’s left of the primary, she needs to bow out gracefully if, as seems almost certain, Mr. Obama receives the nod, and she needs to campaign strongly for the nominee once the convention is over. She has said she’ll do that, and there’s no reason to believe that she doesn’t mean it.

She has already acted the spoiler, she has already showed graceful exits are not her forte, and now, if we take her at her word (which at this point is utterly meaningless), we can be assured that after the convention is over she will campaign strongly for Senator Obama.

Did you catch that? "Once the convention is over" Senator Clinton will be on board. So what happens in the three months leading to the convention? Paul Krugman wants desperately to believe Senator Clinton will play nice. Paul Krugman, once a charter member of the reality-based community, now wants desperately to believe in ponies as well.

Rachel Maddow had it right this week when she said all signs point to a convention battle. Let's hope she has it wrong when she says three more months of fighting will hand John McCain the presidency.

(Cross-posted at State of the Day.)