Obama on Health Care/Kucinich's Exclusion

The Democrats are still slogging away on videotape.  I appreciated the early exchange about whether purchasing health insurance should be mandated--Edwards and Clinton say yes, Obama says no for adults, yes for children (through their parents).  Paul Krugman has pilloried Obama for this position. Krugman says that Obama echoes GOP talking points.

I liked Obama's argument--that people wouldn't need to be prodded into purchasing health insurance if it was affordable.   This effectively  rebutted Clinton's claim that the lack of a mandate "leaves people out."  The analogue here is car insurance; it's required for car owners, but people flout the law. One camp (Edwards, Clinton) says to stiffen enforcement. The other (Obama) says to recognize that mandates don't work.

A legitimate difference, but what's indisputable is that Obama's stance is not close to making him a GOP shill. Paul Krugman should pick new battles.

P.S. Read Ezra Klein on Dennis Kucinich's exclusion from tonight's debate. If Bill Richardson made the cut, Kucinich should be there too.