More thoughts on a Kristol successor:
1. Peggy Noonan. Makes a lot of sense. She writes for the Journal now, so stealing her away from Rupert would constitute a little finger in the eye. She's also been fairly reasonable lately. She obviously sorta likes Obama. A nice choice for the Times. Dowd would probably oppose. Too doppelgangerish.
2. Karl Rove. Yecchh, I know. But listen. Remember Bill Safire, who held the conservative slot at the paper for a long time. Safire over the years won respect (why still mystifies me), but it's worth recalling that he was a blunt and ideological Nixon apparatchik. So if that's how the Times sees this, then Rove makes sense. He's also at the Journal, so the poke-in-the-eye rule applies here as well, although to lesser extent than with Noonan, who's been with the Journal for many years. I think he'd be a terrible choice. I'm not saying I'm for it. Just handicapping.
3. Chris Buckley. Also makes sense. Obama-endorsing conservative, strong brand name.
The question of insider v. outsider, journalist v. former political operative is an interesting one. They want someone who covers different waterfront than Brooks does, so out go the pop sociologists.
