I subscribed to NR from 1977 to maybe 1991, which is around the time that Buckley handed it off to the hacks that began selling Bushism as conservative. Goldberg and Hayes are a couple of runts from the litter that wrecked NR.
Keep in mind that conservatism lost much of its coherence in that era due to the end of the Cold War, a booming economy, and Bushite moderation. Just what issues was NR supposed to advocate? They never quite settled on what they stood for.