So were both George Bushes, John Kerry, William Howard Taft and his son Robert A. Taft.
Isn’t their secret ritual perverted?
As opposed to other fraternity initiations? Maybe, maybe not. I doubt they're killing or raping people. As in all kinds of secret societies over time the mumbo jumbo ritual becomes just something you have to do to belong, not something you take very seriously.
George Will is going off into Fantasyland. A lot of the things that are said now about Palin were said about Goldwater. That doesn't mean they were true or weren't true then or now, but the idea of a Golden Age that's lost forever if Palin is nominated is hard to accept.
On the other hand, just because he sets Palin against Buckley doesn't mean Palinites have to run down Buckley to build her up. The opposition between the two is in George Will's mind more than in the real world.
Buckley did good work in his own day. He made his contribution and got a bit lost when his era ended -- that isn't uncommon among people who are active as long as he has and live from one age into another -- but he doesn't have to be built up or run down to make points about contemporary politicians.
As I recall, Buckley supported both Goldwater and Reagan from the outset.
Will supported neither.
Will, bless his heart, is not qualified to be the arbiter of Buckley's preferences.