Back in August 2008, I wrote:
[D]iagnosed with a brain tumor, Novak has also retired from [his Evans-Novak Political Report newsletter]. And as part of the succession plan, the newsletter is now owned by Eagle Publishing (of Regnery and other wingnutty operations) and run by the newsletter's senior reporter, Timothy Carney.
It's too bad. Novak should've taken the newsletter with him. Because what we have today is no longer that honest look at the political landscape. It's become like the rest of the Regnery stable -- a place to create new realities to fit conservative ideology and spin.
In December, I wrote:
[The newsletter] was respected for a reason -- while run by two conservatives (and then one), the team was known for hardnosed reporting. Novak had many faults, but he is the conservative writer I've most respected, and his newsletter was a must-read. Why? Because he never let that ideology get in the way of the facts. And in the world of conservative media, that is indeed tragically rare. So if one was interested in what reality-based political observers thought about a race or a particular piece of legislation, there were few better sources than Novak. I was crushed to see him forced into retirement, and he's left a void that no one has yet filled.
At some point in the past few years, ENPR was acquired by the wingnuts at Eagle Publishing, and when Novak quit, the newsletter was taken over by Timothy P. Carney who unlike Novak or Evans, consistently lets his ideology trump reality. This sad decline in the value of the newsletter had already led me to quit my subscription, but I check in occasionally in the odd hope that things would improve. No such luck.
Well, Novak finally came to the same conclusion:
Dear Reader,
As you may have read in the Evans-Novak Political Report, my recent health issues have forced me to give up active participation in the newsletter. Thankfully, my gifted deputy, Tim Carney, has ably filled the void for the past few months.
However, with the election and the inauguration behind us, and after much thought and deliberation with my publisher, we have decided that it is time to retire the Evans-Novak Political Report.
As you might imagine, this was an extremely difficult decision for me, and one I did not make lightly. It has been an honor to report on American politics for more than five decades, covering eight presidents, 23 Congressional elections and state and countless local elections and issues. I am grateful for your support of the Evans-Novak Political Report over the years, and wish you and your family all the best.
Sincerely,
Robert D. Novak
I'll miss Novak and his newsletter, and its passing has certainly left a void in the political media landscape that no one has yet to fill.
This final newsletter ends in a bittersweet note:
Politics has a tendency to cast down the mighty and lift up the lowly. Politics makes a fool of any commentator or participant who, explaining the significance of a recent political development, uses the words "never" or "from now on."
Everything about politics—the heroes, the goats, the dynamics, the rules of thumb, the alliances, the enmities—comes and goes. With sadness, so does the Evans-Novak Political Report.