After all of the grief I have given him over the years, I am impressed and a bit humbled that David Brooks chose to mention me along with a Who’s Who of bloggers on the right.  Thanks for this goes in no small part to the release of Ross and Reihan’s new book, Grand New Party, which is the occasion for Brooks’ column:

Ross Douthat and my former assistant, Reihan Salam, are two of the most promising. This pair has just come out with a book called “Grand New Party: How Republicans Can Win the Working Class and Save the American Dream.”

There have been other outstanding books on how the G.O.P. can rediscover its soul (like “Comeback” by David Frum), but if I could put one book on the desk of every Republican officeholder, “Grand New Party” would be it. You can discount my praise because of my friendship with the authors, but this is the best single roadmap of where the party should and is likely to head.

I’m just starting to read Grand New Party, but from what I can tell, if you can discount my friendship with the authors (if I may call it that), it deserves the praise it is receiving.  I should add that Ross and Reihan have done a great deal to help make this blog a success (they were linking to Eunomia very early on), and engaging with their arguments has, I hope, made my own better.  We have had and continue to have many disagreements, but I have been very glad that we have always managed to remain cordial and constructive in our critiques.