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Prince of Darkness, RIP
Last summer, I attended the RightOnline conference in Austin, a project of a pro-liberty think-tank group called Americans for Prosperity (the second such conference was last week in Pittsburgh). The purpose of RightOnline is to develop conservative, libertarian, and free market advocates and activists to counter the more well-organized left-leaning internet activists like those of DailyKos or the Huffington Post. The conference featured speakers ranging from former Bogota, NJ Mayor (and 2009 New Jersey gubernatorial candidate) Steve Lonagan, to more well-known personalities such as Michelle Malkin, John Fund and Steve Moore of the Wall Street Journal, activist and author Grover Norquist (probably most famous for Americans for Tax Reform), then-Libertarian Presidential candidate (and former Republican Congressman) Bob Barr, and Barry Goldwater Jr. The conference provided a great opportunity to hear from these various activists, commentators, journalists, and politicians, but it also provided time to mix and mingle with them on a one-on-one basis.
One highlight of the weekend occurred on the first day of the conference. I arrived early, and walked into the lobby to see the great Robert D. Novak seated on a couch in the lobby, reading a manuscript. Novak was one of the keynote speakers for the event, and his speech was one I was especially looking forward to hearing. I introduced myself to him as a fan of his work. He spoke with me for about 10 minutes or so, answering questions about the current political climate. I was curious as to what the manuscript was, so I made sure to check it out casually — it was a draft copy of what would later become a best seller — David Freddoso's The Case Against Barack Obama. Then Novak informed me that he was sorry, but he had to go do a radio interview; however, if I wanted to sit in, I was welcome to join him.
In his writing, Novak was the master of the inside scoop. In his memoirs, titled The Prince of Darkness (his nickname among his colleagues and those he covered), he talks about how his partner, Rowland Evans, and he had a goal of providing at least one piece of information in each column that had not been reported elsewhere. The book itself is full of inside experiences — from riding with a recklessly-driving then-Senator John F. Kennedy through Washington, to helping a drunk then-Vice President Lyndon Johnson into a cab (and getting teased by LBJ in a press conference the next day, as if it were Novak who had been drunk instead), to his role in the now-famous Valerie Plame affair that resulted in the jailing of White House aide Scooter Libby and New York Times journalist Judith Miller.
Along the way, Novak became more widely known thanks to the advent of cable news, specifically CNN. He often served as the "from the right" debater on CNN's "Crossfire" program, and the show "Capital Gang" was his creation. On TV, in his three-piece suits and dour demeanor, the "Prince of Darkness" was on full display — as was his wit, inside knowledge, and willingness to ask tough questions of people in power, regardless of party affiliation.
Novak was a self-described "conservative", and particularly an uncompromising Cold Warrior and proponent of Reagan-style "supply-side economics" — the idea that cutting taxes, particularly on investment and entrepreneurs, and reducing regulatory red tape unshackles the economy and promotes economic prosperity. When the second Iraq War came, however, he expressed his reticence for what he saw as an unnecessary war. His views became a sticking point at National Review, and he ended his association with the venerable magazine in the fallout. Many of his trepidations about the war proved correct — prior to the change in strategy and leadership that resulted in the "surge", the war was going badly.
It was a pleasure getting to meet and speak with a giant in political journalism last summer. I had no idea at the time it would be one of his last public appearances — he announced only a couple of weeks later that he had brain cancer, finding out after a car accident and erratic behavior caused by the tumor. Considered an old-style "shoe leather" reporter, hitting the street to get the details of the story, he leaves big shoes to fill. The Prince of Darkness will be missed. Robert Novak, RIP.
One highlight of the weekend occurred on the first day of the conference. I arrived early, and walked into the lobby to see the great Robert D. Novak seated on a couch in the lobby, reading a manuscript. Novak was one of the keynote speakers for the event, and his speech was one I was especially looking forward to hearing. I introduced myself to him as a fan of his work. He spoke with me for about 10 minutes or so, answering questions about the current political climate. I was curious as to what the manuscript was, so I made sure to check it out casually — it was a draft copy of what would later become a best seller — David Freddoso's The Case Against Barack Obama. Then Novak informed me that he was sorry, but he had to go do a radio interview; however, if I wanted to sit in, I was welcome to join him.
In his writing, Novak was the master of the inside scoop. In his memoirs, titled The Prince of Darkness (his nickname among his colleagues and those he covered), he talks about how his partner, Rowland Evans, and he had a goal of providing at least one piece of information in each column that had not been reported elsewhere. The book itself is full of inside experiences — from riding with a recklessly-driving then-Senator John F. Kennedy through Washington, to helping a drunk then-Vice President Lyndon Johnson into a cab (and getting teased by LBJ in a press conference the next day, as if it were Novak who had been drunk instead), to his role in the now-famous Valerie Plame affair that resulted in the jailing of White House aide Scooter Libby and New York Times journalist Judith Miller.
Along the way, Novak became more widely known thanks to the advent of cable news, specifically CNN. He often served as the "from the right" debater on CNN's "Crossfire" program, and the show "Capital Gang" was his creation. On TV, in his three-piece suits and dour demeanor, the "Prince of Darkness" was on full display — as was his wit, inside knowledge, and willingness to ask tough questions of people in power, regardless of party affiliation.
Novak was a self-described "conservative", and particularly an uncompromising Cold Warrior and proponent of Reagan-style "supply-side economics" — the idea that cutting taxes, particularly on investment and entrepreneurs, and reducing regulatory red tape unshackles the economy and promotes economic prosperity. When the second Iraq War came, however, he expressed his reticence for what he saw as an unnecessary war. His views became a sticking point at National Review, and he ended his association with the venerable magazine in the fallout. Many of his trepidations about the war proved correct — prior to the change in strategy and leadership that resulted in the "surge", the war was going badly.
It was a pleasure getting to meet and speak with a giant in political journalism last summer. I had no idea at the time it would be one of his last public appearances — he announced only a couple of weeks later that he had brain cancer, finding out after a car accident and erratic behavior caused by the tumor. Considered an old-style "shoe leather" reporter, hitting the street to get the details of the story, he leaves big shoes to fill. The Prince of Darkness will be missed. Robert Novak, RIP.
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