Kristol: Only Conservative Populism Will Win for Republicans

Washington Post columnist William Kristol writes Tuesday that "the GOP is likely, for the foreseeable future, to be of a conservative mind and in a populist mood." Reviewing polls that show 40 percent of Americans and 72 percent of Republicans say they are "conservative," Kristol concludes that out-of-office candidates like Sarah Palin and Mike Huckabee embody the party's near future.

"The center of gravity, I suspect, will instead lie with individuals such as Palin and Huckabee and Gingrich, media personalities like Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh, and activists at town halls and tea parties," Kristol writes. "Some will lament this -- but over the past year, as those voices have dominated, conservatism has done pretty well in the body politic, and Republicans have narrowed the gap with Democrats in test ballots."

Kristol points to upcoming elections in Virginia and New York where conservative candidates are likely to win -- some of them running against more liberal Republicans. "The lesson activists around the country will take from this is that a vigorous, even if somewhat irritated, conservative/populist message seems to be more effective in revitalizing the Republican Party than an attempt to accommodate the wishes of liberal media elites."