Robert Novak Upset that Fred Thompson Not Hiring His Friends

This has little to do with Tampa Bay politics, except insofar as the presidential campaigns affect us all, but I just had to comment on this ridiculous editorial by Robert Novak, he of "leaking the name of covert CIA operative" fame.

Novak notes that Thompson is being hit by waves of criticism by people who attempted to board the Thompson campaign, but were rebuffed.

Of course, he only mentions two people, the first being Scott Reed, who managed Bob Dole's 1996 presidential campaign. Novak calls him one of the GOP's "keener political minds." Considering how profoundly Dole was beaten, either this is rank hyperbole or a grievously personal insult against the GOP's current political minds.

The other is Jeff Bell, a conservative thinker who worked on Ronald Reagan's 1976 presidential campaign, who also wanted to help. Bell did not even get as far as a meeting with Thompson.

According to Novak, "[Thompson's] failure to use the past six months to craft an inspirational, exciting campaign can be partly explained by the exclusionist attitude of the old friends and political professionals in possession of Thompson's candidacy."

How exactly the man who led Bob Dole's ponderous, failed campaign was supposed to make Thompson's campaign "inspirational" and "exciting" is beyond me. And I suppose Thompson was supposed to put the man from the 1976 campaign in charge of internet outreach.

The reason this article piqued my fancy is the idea of the Washington Post publishing an editorial item that amounts to Bob Novak criticizing Fred Thompson for not hiring Novak's friends.

So, in the spirit of Novak, let me say that the reason that whoever doesn't win the presidency didn't win is because my former roommate wasn't hired.