I wasn't terribly pleased with Bill Kristol's ascension to the New York Times op-ed page, but I didn't think it would be quite this banal. Bill Kristol thinks Mike Huckabee is a talented candidate who, quite possibly, is being underestimated by the Republican establishment. For those who read David Brooks's much more interesting exploration of Huckabee's appeal published the day after the Iowa primary, the question is going to be, "why?" Why hire a conservative from the same school of thought as Brooks -- national greatness" neoconservatism -- but without his writing talent or cultural acuity? Hertzberg speculates. But I'm not going to. Rather, imagining you have to fill that spot with a real live Republican -- not one who agrees with you and simply attacks the GOP, or one who's so off-the-beaten path as to occupy some new dimension in political time-space -- who would it be? In other words, which Republican writers do you find thought provoking and interesting, if not agreeable.
