Paul Krugman, Nobel Prize-winning economist, postulates that Barack Obama's election repudiates 40 years of Republican racial strategy ("GOP blaming others for its own failed strategy," Tribune , Jan. 3). How many times in life do we see experts in one field think their expertise translates to other fields? This column is another example of that failure.

As late as September, Sen. John McCain, hardly an example of Republican conservatism, was leading Obama by 4 percent in the polls. In the next six weeks, the economy tanked and the stock market declined faster and greater than in the 1929 crash. Many political experts think that except for this catastrophic economic event, McCain may have won.

So to attribute Obama's victory to some great sea change in American politics is a mistake. I lived in Washington, D.C., for 42 years and watched those politicians up close. They come and they go. In 1994, we saw the "Contract with America" and Republican dominance for the first time in 40 years. Now we have Democratic dominance. This, too, shall pass.

Howard James

Lehi