A rare beast in the world of commentary, Kristol exerts perhaps more influence behind the scenes than he does in his columns and TV gigs. As the leader of a magazine and movement closely identified with the Bush administration, Kristol had ready access to and influence over the executive branch. He advocated—and continues to defend—the Iraq War and other elements of Bush's foreign-policy doctrine, although he has also been sharply critical of what he judged as the military's tactical blunders. Kristol’s opposition to the Harriet Miers Supreme Court nomination helped to sink her chances, and his support for Sarah Palin helped to put her on the 2008 ticket.

Kristol's conservative bona fides led to his selection as a New York Times columnist in 2008, a posting that lasted a year. Although he remains consistently neoconservative—an ideology that he, as much as anyone, defined—his clout has diminished somewhat with the Republican fall from power.