Last week, Teatro restaurant welcomed William Kristol for the third gathering of the 2008/2009 Salon Speaker Series, a dinner meeting of top intellectuals in Calgary held roughly every month. The affair attracts quite a crowd, impressed by the gourmet fare (sponsored by Enbridge), free-flowing libations (generously provided by Vendemmia Wines and Fieldstone Capitol), and witty, fervent discussions. Bennett Jones LLP is the series sponsor, with Global Public Affairs, National Post, Ron Mathison, and Coril Holdings Ltd. also pitching in.
On the guest list are James and Barbara Palmer, Bill and Sharon Siebens, lawyer Gregory Forrest, managing partner for Bennett Jones LLP Perry Spitznagel, Enbridge'sD'Arcy Levesque, director of the Institute for United States Policy Research Dr. Stephen Randall, president of Calgary Zoo Clement Lanthier, president of Global Public Affairs Randy Pettipas, and of course, the directors of the Salon Series, Rudyard Griffiths and Patrick Luciani.
Kristol, a far-right leaning columnist based in Washington D.C., holds a doctoral degree from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He jumpstarted his political career in the early 1980’s, working for the Regan and H. W. Bush administrations, as well as think tank “Project for the Republican Future”. In 1994, he founded The Weekly Standard, a highly influential – and Conservative – magazine, which he continues to edit. Last year he became an op-ed writer for The New York Times, and in the year to come he will appear monthly in The Washington Post. Kristol also appears regularly on Fox News.
Given all this, his comments after a sweeping Democratic victory in the last American election might have been predictable. But they were not. Kristol is actually very impressed by his new president, and believes he will govern as a centrist.
A week before his Calgary appearance, Kristol and a handful of conservative columnists dined with the new president at a private dinner party. “He might not have been washed in the blood of the lamb, but he touched the hem,” joked Tom Flanagan.
His personal impressions were positive. “Impressive, intelligent, thoughtful,” he said of President Obama, “He would listen to you and understand your objections to his point of view. He reminded me of moderate law professors I’ve met. He’s very calm. He was refreshingly normal and conversational, and that bodes well for him as president.”
Still, he joked, since the inauguration he’s been yearning for a place more conservative than his own country, and so he came up to Canada. There was an appreciative chuckle, but the comment also raised eyebrows. In this city, a newly appointed senate and “big spenders” budget are causing many to wonder if conservatism is not taking a hit across the continent. Even if that is the case, says Kristol, all is not lost.
Commenting on the weakened state of the Republican Party in the US he said, “I think it’s going to be helpful, ultimately. There will be a reinvigoration of conservative ideas. What you need as a minority like this is some chaos, some bitter debates. It would be helpful for the party.”
Published in National Post, January 31 2009
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