Hey, Voters: Ignore the Pundits

Are you a Republican from Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, or Florida, wondering how to vote in your imminent primary or caucus? Then William Kristol has a pep talk for you in the latest Weekly Standard. Vote for the man or woman who you think will do the job best, he advises. "Ignore the proclamations of the pundits, the sophistries of the strategists, and the calculations of the handicappers. … That ballot is yours alone to cast."

Kristol also seems to subtly implore other candidates to enter the race, noting that the aforementioned states' vote will help determine which candidates are still standing at the end of January ... "and even whether others will feel impelled to enter the race." He admonishes "those who have stood aside—and who now may have concluded ... that the current field is lacking," telling them that "now is not a time … to succumb to concerns about how they will look if they enter the fray and fall short." (More William Kristol stories.)