William Kristol: pundit, professor, publisher.

• Author: Smith, Ed
• Position: On Record - Interview

"Let's give more power back to the states. I think it would be a very common-sense proposal."

William Kristol is the editor of The Weekly Standard magazine, which he co-founded in 1995.

He regularly appears as an analyst on Fox News Sunday and the Fox News Channel. Kristol received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1979 and taught politics at the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. He served as chief of staff to Secretary of Education William Bennett under President Reagan and to Vice President Dan Quayle during the George H.W. Bush administration. He sits on the boards of several research organizations and think tanks and has published on a variety of topics, including the best-seller "The War Over Iraq," in 2003.

STATE LEGISLATURES: Does Donald Trump's success surprise you?

KRISTOL: It sure does. I saw early on that Trump was hitting a chord, and wrote an editorial or two saying so. Don't underestimate him; take him seriously; listen to what he's saying; learn from what he's saying. But I figured he would rise and then begin to fall, and his support would go to the more traditional candidates. But it's very unpredictable. The rules would suggest that he will fade and will not be the nominee, but once every 30 years, 50 years, 75 years, the rules get broken, and maybe this is that year.

How would you compare state legislative action to what you see in Washington?

I think voters are pretty happy with what's happening at the state level, in a lot of states at least. States don't work perfectly; states work pretty well. The federal government doesn't work well at all.

I live in Virginia, so I follow Virginia's legislature quite a lot. I think a state legislature is much more responsive, much more attuned to real problems and solving them. People expect their state representatives to do something about different issues in the state. That doesn't mean that everything that gets done should be done, or it doesn't mean that they don't duck problems too.

What should GOP-controlled legislatures be doing to distinguish themselves from Congress?

Right now, the place Republicans can show that their ideas are practical, are successful, are popular, as well as being well-thought-out, is in the states.

Republican state legislators in particular need to pass sound legislation, especially if they have a Republican governor. Maybe they can work with Democrats, even when they're in the minority, to pass good legislation...