Quotes About Matthew Continetti

For the editors of the Standard, Buchanan not only represented a neo-isolationist populist insurgency but also threw into relief the brittleness, fragility, and cowardice of the Republican establishment.

The character of President Ronald Reagan may have affected Kristol's rosy assessment of populism. The fortieth president injected the populist rebellion of the late 1970s with his peculiar qualities of optimism, sunniness, humor, and unflappability.

Buckley called him "Mr. Evil," "a dangerous man," and a "great phony." Buckley deplored the "uncouthness that seems to account for his general popularity.

He fed his supporters a diet of grievances. Like Huey Long, he capitalized on their sense of being dispossessed and disrespected.