For most neocons, however, journalism has never been more than a Leninist means to an end—to form an intellectual vanguard. For it is political influence that the neocons crave. Kristol worked to destroy the 1993 Clinton Healthcare bill and sought to mold first Dan Quayle, then Sarah Palin, into his political homunculi. During the 2016 primary, he desperately cast about for a viable candidate to oppose Donald Trump and incurred much ridicule when he floated the name of David French, a writer for the National Review. 
Source : ‘The Weekly Standard’: a Record of Failed Regime Change
