What he didn't acknowledge however is that a political system which is "warped & paralyzed by ... a small, wealthy minority" (of any pursuasion) cannot then also be described as a popular representative democratic political system.... rather the so called "democratic" system is simply a facade for the real system. 

 

 

Furthermore it might help Krugman's perspective a bit if he recalled that this facade was originated precisely by the "power of a small, wealthy minority" so it should come as no surprise that the political system they designed would assure that the "small wealthy minority" would retain control of the system. 

One could (naively) ask how can it be that in a popular democracy (one man, one vote), an overwhelmingly tiny, but wealthy minority can control the outcomes of the entire system.  The simple answer is that with the exception of Utopian idealisms, money talks & everybody else walks.  So what else is new since gold, silver, &/or currency replaced the barter system?  ... and it's money that controls the propoganda machine that makes the rest believe that they have a say in the outcomes of the system.