Bill Kristol’s Still Trying to Get GOP to Turn Away From Trump

Neoconservative Bill Kristol, he of the once-respected (and once existent) Weekly Standard, has been a NeverTrumper from the get-go. Unlike some of this former brethren who have since seen the light, Kristol has carved a nice (if not profitable) niche for himself as the Last Principled Republican in the room. Well, if you don’t count utter sell-outs like Jennifer Rubin and Nicolle Wallace, that is, but we fail to see how people like that remain conservatives in any way, shape, or form. Kristol, at least, isn’t out there stumping for Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren.

Although, let’s face it: He might as well be.

In an op-ed for the New York Times on Monday, Kristol once again made his pitch: “Republicans don’t have to nominate Trump in 2020.”

Yeah. But we’re probably gonna.

From Kristol:

The 2020 Republican nomination is an open question. It is a decision of great consequence on which all Republicans have a say, and all have a responsibility. Republican leaders in particular — Republican elected officials and former elected officials, Republican activists and donors, appointees of this administration and of former Republican administrations — bear a weighty responsibility. They can support Donald Trump, and put a stamp of approval on his tenure in office. They can keep quiet, a stamp of approval of its own sort. Or they can step up and act for the honor of their party and the good of their country.

There are currently three announced Republican challengers to Donald Trump. Republican leaders could in various ways support one or all three of them. There are also other Republicans who might well be stronger candidates for the nomination and who may well be more qualified to serve as president. Those individuals could be encouraged by colleagues, activists and donors, privately or publicly, to run — and they could be offered support if they do.

Yeah. Remember 2016, and how effective all those “Republican leaders” were in dissuading conservative voters from casting their lot with Trump? We can only imagine how much more effective they’ll be today, when we have three years’ worth of evidence that proves how wrong they were the first time around. So much more effective now that, instead of people like Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, and Marco Rubio, we can select powerhouse alternatives like…Joe Walsh. Or Bill Weld. Or like, even the other guy.

Ah, but Kristol wants to recruit someone else: “And may I say directly to those Republicans who could run: You have a unique chance to act for your party and your country. You can play a role in overcoming the shame and stain of the past three years, and in the reformation of a once great party. Win or lose, you will go down in the history books as a man or woman of honor.”

We guess this means: Go-Go, Mitt Romney?

Ahh, Bill. You gotta love someone on a hopeless crusade.