[SoConPubbie]

Of course Buckley would aprove of Governor Palin, as would Ronald Reagan, as would any serious minded and principled conservative.

The only dolts who don’t approve of Sara Palin are purists and those with another dog in the hunt.

[Cruising Speed]

If it weren't for Buckley, we'd be much farther down the road to serfdom than we are now.

Palin is no Buckley, but then again, Buckley was not much of a politician. She reminds more of Reagan than Buckley.

If elected, I believe President Palin would rise to the occasion quite nicely.

[The Wizard]

I absolutely agree with this headline....

[stephenjohnbanker]

What a crock of crap. Buckley was a WARRIOR. He threatened to kick the $hit out of Noam Chomsky, and later Gore Vidal on national television.

[DoughtyOne]

BTW, open arms? Big tent? Inclusivity?

John McCain couldn’t have said it better himself. Why just reach across the isle in pursuit of comity.

Gag me with a fricken pitch fork.

[trisham]

Buckley was a genius. They don’t make them like that anymore.

[mkjessup]

I could see Buckley endorsing the Tea Party movement, as it refuses to be part of the 'business-as-usual' mentality which has permeated both the 'Rat and RINO Party. If the GOP is to be taken back to it's true roots as the Party of Reagan, it will be the Tea Party movement that makes it possible in addition to other grass roots conservatives.

Having said that, the idea that Buckley would approve of Sarah Palin is questionable at best. Palin has over the past six months, with her support for RINOs like McCain, Fiorina, Michael Steele, etc., proven that she is NOT a 'principled conservative', she is a Republican first, a conservative when it is expedient, and as the Palinistas come swarming to shout "but she supports OTHER conservatives!", all that proves is that combined with her support of the aforementioned McCain/Fiorina/Steele Axis of Arseholes, Sarah Palin is NOT a consistent conservative (to borrow J.D. Hayworth's campaign theme).

And consistency as a conservative is something that is mandatory, and not negotiable.

[Bob J]

Exactly how does the quote;

“It’s also very important not to take Gov. [Sarah] Palin and put her in some category as an untouchable. That would be an enormous mistake”. Edwards wouldn’t call Palin a model conservative.

“I don’t think she’s done much reading of classical works such as ‘The Road to Serfdom,’ ‘The Conservative Mind,’ or ‘Ideas Have Consequences,’ all of which make up the conservative canon for most people.”

...equate to approval? First, the assertion in the title was made up out of thin air by the author, second it was the author’s opinion, not one he attributed to Buckley.

You gotta watch the Palinista propaganda machine, it’s always in high gear to mislead you if not outright lie to you...like Palin did about the “bridge to nowhere”.

[x]

Buckley at 30 or 40 or 50 would definitely have thought that way.

It would be harder to say what he would have thought in his 70s or 80s.

He was already halfway out the door and on the other side.

[MaggieCarta]

Chortle. I seem to remember that WFBjr's son certainly didn't approve of Mrs Palin. Of course, by then, Christo had outed himself as a complete turncoat.

The article title is rather disingenuous. Edwards, (Buckley's biographer) says...
Edwards wouldn’t call Palin a model conservative.
“I don’t think she’s done much reading of classical works such as ‘The Road to Serfdom,’ ‘The Conservative Mind,’ or ‘Ideas Have Consequences,’ all of which make up the conservative canon for most people.”

I cannot begin to pretend to know the mind of one of my conservative heroes, William F. Buckley, Jr., but I think his biographer is incorrect in saying WFB would approve of Mrs Palin.

Guess what? We may never know Buckley's thoughts on this, since Mrs Palin was not named as McCain's VP pick until 6 mos after WFB's death. If Mr. Buckley knew of her at all, it was before the relentless (and often self-inflicted) exposure of all of Mrs Palin's various and sundry baggage in the national spotlight.

I will be glad to stand corrected by Rich Lowry, Buckley's sister Priscilla, his nephew Brent Bozell or anyone that actually knew WFB for a longer period of time than this biographer.

[RichInOC]

I suspect so, on both counts. I would purely have loved to have had that guy around for this last election, if for no other reason than to see if Christopher would still have had the stones to endorse Obama.