I will always be indebted to Andrew for his generosity, his philosophy and his model of online writing. Guest-blogging for him was a generous signal from Andrew that I might have things to say that were worth reading. That week was also an opportunity to experience the crush of florid humanity that is Andrew’s e-mail inbox. It makes me all the more impressed that Sullivan has maintained almost 95% of his sanity for the past decade (sorry, Andrew, I have to deduct points for the Trig obsession).
Sullivan’s “politics of doubt” is also worthy of note. Too many writers let their opinion congeal into a black mass that cannot be penetrated by any counter-intuitive insight or data point. Sullivan has been willing to change his mind when the facts change; I can only hope I’ve been as intellectually honest.
Finally, Andrew created the template for today’s political bloggers react to the news that is interesting, follow up on the news that is really interesting, and never let go of the stories that really exercise some part of the brain. All bloggers who aspire to the influence of The Daily Dish consciously or unconsciously use this template. What Sullivan does better than the rest of us is to write so well while infused with such strong emotion. Here’s to another ten years of perspicacious blogging.
Read Dan at his eponymous blog.