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Krauthammer: Right's Thorn in Obama's Side

Post columnist the only coherent voice in a fractured opposition

By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff

Posted May 20, 2009 11:18 AM CDT

(Newser) – In 2006, Charles Krauthammer urged Barack Obama to run for president, guaranteeing he’d lose. That didn’t exactly work out, but Obama’s rise has been good for the Washington Post columnist, who has become the central anti-Obama voice, writes Ben Smith in Politico. His writing drips with a clarity and confidence the fractured right craves. “He’s the most important conservative columnist right now,” says David Brooks of the New York Times.

In a five-part series on the “unified theory of Obamaism,” Krauthammer laid out what he sees as the president’s dangerous, radical agenda. Yet he harbors a certain respect for Obama. “This is a formidable, impressive, interesting man,” he said. “When I criticize him, it’s because I think his ideas are misguided.” He’s less impressed by conservative resistance thus far: “It’s completely incoherent, fractured, and inconsistent.”

Charles Krauthammer has become Obama's most strident critic.
Charles Krauthammer has become Obama's most strident critic.   (University of North Carolina)
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He’s become Ground Zero among neo-cons, but he’s vastly smarter than most of them. - Joe Klein, Time

Krauthammer's view is that American politics are played out in relative moderation, between the 40-yard lines, as he puts it; he thinks Obama is poised to push those ideological limits. - Ben Smith

They were ostensibly about taxes. Obama hasn't raised taxes as of now by a penny. It was simply an inchoate reaction, the sort of thing that happens very early on in a very important presidency. - Charles Krauthammer, criticizing the conservative 'tea parties'

What's important about Charles is that he began life as more of a liberal. Charles is not a hater, but he can be an intense disliker.
- EJ Dionne, Washington Post

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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 9 comments
justme
May 21, 2009 12:23 PM CDT
Name calling again? Try providing a good reason for your opinion. If you can't don't write it. Krauthammer is most relevant when his opinions seem to upset both Right and Left, which they often do. He is not the Party's voice but a voice of his own. A rare commodity in that part of the country.
kokuaguy
May 21, 2009 8:46 AM CDT
WHAT R YOU ON?
Derni
May 21, 2009 1:30 AM CDT
is he still taking his medication-OIh no he prescribes for Russ and the others
 

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