Krugman Dogged By Rumor That His Son Works For Hillary

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

Posting this because I have read several times here on DU that Krugman's criticism's of Obama are meaningless because his son works for the Clinton campaign

Krugman Dogged By Rumor That His Son Works For Hillary
December 19, 2007

Regular readers of this site will recognize that this headline is a tongue-in-cheek one, I hope. But as it happens, Krugman is being dogged by such a rumor, though it happens to be false.

Over at Election Central, I've just posted a new interview I did with Krugman today, in which he ramps up the case he's been making against Obama of late. Several readers have now floated the rumor about his son and Hillary in the comments section to the post, suggesting that this is the real reason why Krugman is criticizing Obama. This explanation has also popped up elsewhere of late.


I haven't been able to reach Krugman about this. And there's startlingly little info about it online that I can find. But here's what a Boston Globe profile of him had to say on Dec. 23, 1999:

"Krugman, who has no children, is married to Robin Wells, an economist hired by MIT in 1996 as part of a package deal that brought Krugman back east from Stanford. His first marriage, to Robin Bergman, a clothing designer, ended in divorce."

So, it appears that Krugman doesn't have a son and that the rumor is completely false -- unless Krugman has had a son since 1999 who is remarkably precocious and has been hired by the Hillary campaign despite being under the age of eight years old.

This factual state of affairs, however, doesn't mean Krugman isn't being dogged by the rumor that his son works for Hillary. He is being dogged by this rumor, and it isn't going to go away anytime soon.

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/horsesmouth/2007/12/krugman_dogged.php

Added on Edit: About my son by Paul Krugman
This is pretty funny. There’s a rumor spreading that my son works for the Hillary campaign.
Only one problem: I don’t have a son — or a daughter, either.
And both of my cats assure me that they are not working for any campaign.
http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/12/19/about-my-son/

[depakid]

I've actually heard him called a "partisan hack" and worse

based on his very justified and factual criticism of St. Obama.

Denial and cognitive dissonance are powerful forces indeed.

[Captain Angry]

1. What a great rumor. So wildly wrong, anybody who spreads it shows how dumb they are.

I need to start one.

The reason Tony Romo played so badly last weekend was not because his girlfriend Jessica Simpson was there. But because she had just told him that she's leaving him for me.

Yeah, that's it. Spread that one for me. :-)


Here's Krugman's response to the rumor:

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/12/19/about-my-son/


It's awesome.

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

3. Good link. I added it to the OP.

[Captain Angry]

5. Cool deal.

I ran off to verify that I was making fun of people correctly.

And I found that link.

My post was going to be a lot politer if I hadn't found it. :-)

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

10. Atrios admitted today that HIS cat is working for the Huckabee campaign

[rinsd]

2. Krugman - 1, Obama-nation - 0

[BeyondGeography]

4. "Oppo?"

==Several readers have now floated the rumor about his son and Hillary in the comments section to the post, suggesting that this is the real reason why Krugman is criticizing Obama.==

"Several readers" is not oppo. You know that.

[rinsd]

6. Sorry. Seems I am catching hyperbole disease so common around these parts.

I changed it though I doubt you will like it more.

[BeyondGeography]

8. LOL...much better

[Cassandra]

7. My first thought...

He has a son?
Good for him having two wives, sequentially, with the same name. Keeps errors to a minimum.

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

9. Especially if he's a screamer

[Tom Rinaldo]

11. This fits the profile of another despicable smear attempt by Hillary that... Oh, um never mind n/t.