Friday, May 16, 2014

Conservative punditry


Recently I was asked what conservative pundits I recommend. That requires some preliminary sorting.
i) On the one hand, certain issues are perennial issues. They crop up on a regular basis. On the other hand, news analysis is ephemeral and repetitious. 
ii) There are "generic" pundits who generally write well on a range of issues. 
iii) There's a difference between Christian conservative and non-Christian conservative pundits. Non-Christian conservatives can be good on economics, the Constitutional rule of law, &c. 
iv) Traditionally, conservatives tend to be hawkish, with a keen interest in geopolitics. But due to how the Bush and Obama administration bungled the "war on terror," the emphasis has shifted from foreign policy to domestic policy. 
v) Some pundits like Matt Walsh and Mark Steyn are as popular for their style as their content. 
vi) Some pundits specialize on particular issues. 
vii) Some categories overlap, so there will be some repetition in my list. 
vii) My selection criterion is largely based on what's available online.
viii) As an American, I focus on the American political scene. However, culture war issues and arguments are the same in the US, UK, and EU. 
Generic
Charles C. W. Cooke
Victor Davis Hanson
Charles Krauthammer
Ramesh Ponnuru 
George Will
Christian apologetic/culture war aggregator
Wintery Knight
Think-tanks
Witherspoon Institute
Philosophers
Keith Burgess-Jackson
Lydia McGrew
Bill Vallicella
Evangelical
Denny Burk
Joe Carter
John Frame
David French
Albert Mohler
Justin Taylor
James White
Catholic
Francis Beckwith
Robert George
Jewish
Michael Brown
Mark Levin
Michael Medved
Dennis Prager
Jay Sekulow
Ben Shapiro
Black
Ben Carson
Larry Elder
Thomas Sowell
Kevin D. Williamson
Libertarian
John Stossel
Dhimmitude
Daniel Pipes
Robert Spencer
David Wood
Economics
Larry Kudlow
Tomas Sowell 
Feminism/Homosexuality
Michael Brown

Denny Burk
Robert Gagnon
Wayne Grudem

Jim Hamilton
Helen Smith
Christina Hoff Sommers
Abortion/euthanasia
Francis Beckwith
Robert George
Scott Klusendorf
Lydia McGrew
Wesley J. Smith
Religious liberty
Francis Beckwith
David French
Robert George
Jay Sekulow
Political demographics
Michael Baron
Voter Fraud
John Fund 
Global warming
E. Calvin Beisner

4 comments:

  1. Thanks Steve, that's a very helpful resource!

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  2. Replies
    1. Might be a good addition. Some conservatives also like the Ace of Spades HQ.

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  3. Here are some additional names that might be of interest: Ross Douthat (The New York Times), Rod Dreher (The American Conservative), Daniel Larison (The American Conservative), Roger Kimball (The New Criterion), Reihan Salam (National Review), Ilya Somin (Volokh Conspiracy), R. R. Reno (First Things), Patrick J. Deneen (The American Conservative). There are others, of course, but these came to mind.

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