I've never had any problem with Bill Kristol before. Most of the time I agree with him, and I have a great deal of respect for the man (the lone exception being when he backed John McCain in 2000 on a "national greatness" gimmick).
But I have to ask you, Mr. Kristol, in all honesty and candor: Have you lost your ever-bleeping mind?!:
But what if come October all we have is Bushies lacking all conviction, Trumpers full of passionate intensity, and a bunch of uninspiring also-rans? I devoutly hope this isn’t the case. But what if it is?
Well, for starters, it could clear out the "uninspiring also-rans" and clear the decks for an alternative candidate to take on, and take out, Trump. That's how the nominating process usually works, after all.
But Mr. Kristol goes blithering in the diametric wrong direction:
Shouldn’t Republicans be open to doing what Democrats are now considering? That is: Welcoming into the race, even drafting into the race if need be, one or two new and potentially superior candidates?
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
And just how the hell, exactly, would their be "new and superior" candidates who aren't already in the race? Doesn't that mean that any name Kristol tosses out below is by definition old and inferior and doesn't want to run?
After all, if a new candidate or new candidates didn’t take off, the party would be no worse off....
How would dividing the anti-Trump opposition even more not render the party worse off?
....and someone from the current field would prevail.
Yeah: Trump. Which would be an unmitigated disaster.
If the October surprise candidate caught fire, it would be all the better for the GOP–whether he ultimately prevailed or forced one of the existing candidates to up his game.
This is pure, undiluted fantasy. Again, what possible potential late entrant would fit Kristol's description? That person sure as shinola isn't on his laundry list:
Who could such a mysterious dark horse be? Well, it’s not as if every well-qualified contender is already on the field. Mitch Daniels was probably the most successful Republican governor of recent times, with federal executive experience to boot.
Another outstanding, conservative, two-term midwestern governor. Sorry, Bill, Scott Walker is already in the race. Try again.
Paul Ryan is the intellectual leader of Republicans in the House of Representatives, with national campaign experience.
No sitting member of the House has been elected president since James Garfield in 1880. Plus, Ryan was on the losing ticket in 2012, is a squish on immigration, and his name was on the sequester-busting "Ryan-Murray" budget deal of a year and a half ago. Try again.
The House also features young but tested leaders like Jim Jordan, Trey Gowdy and Mike Pompeo.
What part of "No sitting member of the House has been elected president since James Garfield in 1880" aren't you understanding, Bill? And besides, he was promptly assassinated.
There is the leading elected representative of the 9/11 generation who has also been a very impressive freshman senator, Tom Cotton.
We've already got three freshman Republican senators in the race (Cruz, Rubio, Paul). We don't need a fourth. Try again.
There could be a saner and sounder version of Trump — another businessman who hasn’t held electoral office.
"Saner and sounder" = "more boring". Trump would eat them for breakfast. And, once more, the presidency is not an entry-level job. Ready to give up yet, Bill?
And there are distinguished conservative leaders from outside politics; Justice Samuel Alito and General (ret.) Jack Keane come to mind.
Who have no base, no resources, and will never f'ing run. And, my God in heaven, why on Earth would Justice Alito give up his perch on Olympus for such a fool's errand?
I'm astounded that Mr. Kristol didn't bring up Mitt Romney, who would be Jeb Bush with better hair.
Get it through your thick skull, Bill: The Republican presidential field needs to be reduced. Drastically. NOT distended even further. It's already-enormous size is precisely why Donald Trump has been able to hijack the race and steer the party straight into the ditch and possibly save Hillary Clinton's flickering chances of eventual victory.
There is no "white knight" to ride to the rescue, there is no "savior" to swoop in and save the GOP from its own "populist" madness. The field we have is the field we've got.
And it's too damned big.
Talk about the "cure" being more of the terminal disease.
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