The last time I saw Tony Blankley was at an interesting dinner hosted by David DesRosiers of Real Clear Politics and Carl Schramm of the Kauffman Foundation in July 2011 at the Jefferson Hotel. We had a stimulating discussion in the hotel library before the dinner about what the Obama administration was getting right and wrong — and Blankley expressed some admiration for the Obama team and for how high the policy hills were they had to get over. That said, he was also a hard core, though civil and cordial about it, supporter of the Republican political agenda at that time.
I admired Blankley — who was close to Newt Gingrich — for not allowing political and policy differences to divide him from engaging with those who saw the world a different way.
I learned a great deal from him over the years — and appreciated very much his interest in what I was up to here and there.
I will miss him in this town.
— Steve Clemons
