There's been some private and public buzz around the idea that the NYT is going to replace Bill Kristol with another conservative voice. If the Times goes that way, who could do the job? This blog suggests Peggy Noonan and Ross Douthat, among others. Those would be the two names that I would suggest, but I'd say the clear advantage goes to Ross.
Though Noonan's column has been quite good this eleciton season, her pieces are looser and more ruminative than the tightness required by a newspaper column. Her free-form, impressionistic style works best with the space that writing on the Web gives her. More importantly, though, Noonan's formative political experience was working for Ronald Reagan; Ross was born one year before Reagan was elected president. it seems to me that whatever the future of American conservatism is, it's going to look more like what Ross sees and believes than what Noonan does. (For that matter, the future of liberalism looks a lot more like young'un Matt Yglesias than it does Times columnist Bob Herbert).
Besides which, Ross is a hell of a writer.
If the Times boots Kristol, which conservative should get that slot? Readers?
Add to Del.icio.us
Add to Technorati
Add to Digg
Add to Newsvine
Add to Facebook
Add to StumbleUpon
Subscribe
Clearly, what is needed is a voice of moderation and reason. My first choice would be Ann Coulter.
Other suitable choices would be; Glenn Beck or Michelle Malkin.
Forgot to add Austin Bramwell. Probably too cerebral.
Steve
I would suggest Tucker Carlson who seems to be perpetually underrated.
How about Brink Lindsey. He is a very readable and convincing libertarian, so his social liberalism may not make him conservative, but he would sure bring a contrarian spirit to the NYT editorial page
Doesn't Ponnuru have a gig at the Washington Post? He is the moderator of the Right Matters discussion group.
Either way, I like Ross.
Ann Coulter, voice of "reason" ? ....hahahahaha, good one.
Post a Comment
By submitting these comments, I agree to the beliefnet.com terms of service, rules of conduct and privacy policy (the "agreements"). I understand and agree that any content I post is licensed to beliefnet.com and may be used by beliefnet.com in accordance with the agreements.