Bill Kristol has actually found someone to run as a third-party conservative this election. I didn’t think it would happen; beyond the practical realities against it, Kristol’s track record with the truth has been poor since about 1990, and if he told me that the sky is blue due to refracting sunlight I’d be skeptical and would go to a physicist for confirmation.
Enough about Kristol. Since you’re unlikely to have heard of David French — I certainly hadn’t — Vox has a little background. The important thing to note — he’s a lawyer, an Iraq War veteran, and a blogger for National Review Online. One thing I would add to Vox’s rundown, which I’ve picked up elsewhere, is that French’s wife Nancy was Sarah Palin’s long-time ghostwriter. Seriously, you didn’t think Palin actually wrote her books, did you?
The likelihood of David French winning the presidency is somewhere less than the likelihood of Christopher Hitchens walking into my office and autographing one of his books that I keep at my desk. (Hitchens, I should note, is dead, so that’s not happening at all. Ever.)
Kristol actually found cannon fodder… err, I mean, a candidate. My entire worldview has taken a blow today. Kristol is never, ever right, and yet, he found someone to bear his True Conservative™ standard. I didn’t imagine this could happen.
It’s inconceivable.
Update: June 5, 2016:
French has decided against running for President. French himself found it inconceivable.
After much thought and prayer: I’m Not Running for President https://t.co/lqWQtPL5Q5
— David French (@DavidAFrench) June 6, 2016
Bill Kristol’s track record of being incorrect on everything continues.