” If I recall correctly he was pulling for Chris Christie or Jeb Bush to enter the race. So, yeah, Kristol’s squishy on conservatism, “
Yes, and in 2008 Kristol was pushing for McCain. Kristol is honest and sometimes on target (eg he also has been a Palin fan AFAIK), but sometimes way off. Kristol is honest, but a neo-con and semi-con at times.
In this case, he’s not actually wrong, they were poorly worded statements, but Kristol’s comments are really unhelpful and the focus is a typical media pack hunt mentality. Focus on this while ignoring Obama saying worse than that this past week.
True, Kristol was recommending Palin long before McCain picked her. But I think he later concluded she was brought onto the national stage too soon and I don’t believe he thought she should run in 2012.
I think what Kristol is is a pragmatic conservatism. He doesn’t have a liberal ideology, but he’s more willing to compromise on principles than others would be if he thinks it would make success more realistic.