Jokingly — and graciously — Bill Kristol suggests “Nordlinger-Kristol.” But “Kristol-Nordlinger” is negotiable too. We were talking about a third candidacy, one that would offer a Reaganite point of view. That’s if Donald Trump becomes the GOP nominee.
Bill is from New York. I’m from Michigan. Bill has long lived in Virginia. I have long lived in New York. So, we have Midwestern–Southern–New York values covered. We’ll just have to do our best in New England and out West.
Dr. Kristol is my guest on a podcast, Q&A. We talk presidential politics, mainly: Hillary and Bernie; Trump and his supporting cast in the current reality-TV series. We also talk about the media. It seems to me that media bias is less important than it was. That it is less a thorn in conservatives’ side. That may be because — well, I tend to cloister in the right-wing media . . .
I also ask Bill about Israel: first, because he knows a helluva lot about it; second, because it’s important; and third, because he has just returned from that country, where he lectured, taught, and conferred.
At the end of our podcast, I ask him to preview the upcoming GOP presidential debate. He does it with his usual neatness and knowledge. I would not want to take The Weekly Standard’s editor away from them, but what role should Bill occupy in the next Republican administration?
How about Rich Lowry?
Once, WFB was asked what role he would like to play in a Kemp administration. (Never happened.) Bill said, “Ventriloquist.” Playful answer, as usual with Bill, but also just slightly enigmatic.