My editorial in the latest WEEKLY STANDARD has generated several kind and thoughtful responses. Here's one that I think deserves wider readership (and which I reproduce here with the writer's permission):

Dear Mr. Kristol, Upon reading your most recent piece in TWS ("We'll Survive"), I felt compelled to write. Like you, I am a Republican eager to reclaim the mantle of classical liberalism. I am also under 25 and can assure you of the damage Trump has done to the party brand amongst my cohorts. I know more than few right leaning voters my age who feel utterly betrayed by the party and, as a result, will vote for Clinton. I am inclined to think that they will not soon return. Like you, I see no viable future for a Republican party under the spell of Trump. If the Republican party cannot shake itself awake—irrespective of the 2016 election results—then it may indeed be time to start anew. Whether it be a revival of the Federalist party (Hamilton is very popular these days!) or the Whigs, it is my deep conviction that the United States requires a party of John Locke and Adam Smith. I also believe that the modern Progressive movement is a zombie institution, which is why it can offer little more than trigger warnings, transgender bathrooms, and "institutional racism." What an opportunity! Thank you for being a voice of reason in a storm blundering stupidity. If you ever form a new party, one dedicated to free markets and a muscular defense of liberty, count me with you.