George Packer knows Bill Kristol only too well. In a recent article, Packer sets out the Republican analyst and NYT writer's agenda in this election in three easy steps:

1. Have McCain take credit for the imminent bailout legislation and promise more tough, decisive leadership.
2. Liberate Sarah Palin to be herself: a conservative attack dog. “As one shrewd McCain supporter told me, ‘Every minute she spends not telling the American people something that makes them less well disposed to Obama is a minute wasted.’”
3. Accuse Obama of being too liberal. Again and again. And bring Rev. Wright back into the mix.

There's no doubt that the Alaskan pitbull has brought an interesting element to the election (as well as giving SNL their allotted year's worth of funnies). But how much can Kristol, who after all, is a commentator and political analyst, not a politician, sway the course of the election so much as to "handpick" the VP candidate for the GOP?

A key organizer and participant in the Palin meeting was Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol, who can fairly lay claim to having “discovered” Palin for Washington political circles. Palin’s name appeared in fifty-seven Weekly Standard articles since the Juneau meeting—starting with a paean entitled “The Most Popular Governor” that ran right after the reception.
Kristol, in any event, was quick to press the campaign for the Palin candidacy with the party’s faithful. Taking a cue from the Straussian handbook, Kristol appeared on Fox News on June 30, 2008, confidently predicting that McCain would select Sarah Palin and as a public display of support, oil prices would miraculously fall.

Bill Kristol is the best opponent of Bill Kristol: he makes sure that his ties and accomplishments are always underplayed. Remember that Kristol is the same guy who praised President Bush's inaugural speech without revealing that he helped right it. Cramazing.

So essentially, Kristol is Keyser Söze: and the best trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he was just a politics commentator, not politics-maker.