Washington, D.C. remembers conservative icon Kate Walsh O’Beirne

National Review Senior Editor Ramesh Ponnuru, who became Kate’s godson when he was baptized as an adult, published a moving tribute a few hours after her death, outlining much of the good Kate did for the conservative movement.

She brought a witty and well-informed conservatism to a national television audience as well through weekly appearances on CNN’s marquee political talk show “Capital Gang.” Conservatives were outnumbered there as on cable news generally at that time, but it never seemed that way as long as she was on.

Both her “Bread and Circuses” column for [National Review] and her television commentary were marked by a rare combination of a deep interest in conservative policy, psychological insight, and common sense. Many of those same qualities put her advice — on politics, editorials, careers, and personal matters — in high demand.

It was advice she was happy to give, setting her listeners right while somehow also making them feel like geniuses.

Ramesh’s wife, April, followed up on Monday with an emotional piece on Kate’s personal side, a side that many in Washington knew but few knew as well as Ramesh and April:

For nearly 17 years, Kate was my closest friend and constant companion. She played a role in securing every job I ever had, including several wonderful years working directly for her. We rarely went a day without communicating: She was my sounding board and confidant…. She gave me invaluable parenting advice, and encouraged me as a mother at my lowest points.

Much will be written about Kate’s generosity — she was always eager to help or give someone else the credit. … She had the gift of friendship, and she gave freely of her time to encourage us. But more than that, she engendered a spirit of love and camaraderie among all her girlfriends (“April, how much do we love Barbara?”). Any woman who reads this tribute will know just how unusual that is. And she truly believed in all of us. She thought we should be running everything, no matter what it was. Even with all of her accomplishments, she always made us feel better about ourselves. Lord knows how many risks I took because Kate believed in me.

It wasn’t just the Ponnurus that Kate treated with kindness and grace — it was everyone, no matter how small or seemingly unimportant. As Washington Examiner Commentary Editor Tim Carney wrote:

In my first job as a Washington reporter, John Gizzi pulled me into the office to impart wisdom about living and working in this town. One piece that stuck with me: “You can tell a person’s character by how they treat a person from whom they don’t believe they have anything to gain.”

He may as well have been speaking about Kate O’Beirne.

As a 22-year-old clueless but strident reporter at Human Events, meeting O’Beirne was like meeting a rock star, except she didn’t play the role. She didn’t simply treat me with courtesy, she acted interested, she gave advice and she remembered my name when she had no reason to.

…

It’s not sentimentalism, it’s nearly irrefutable, to say that Kate O’Beirne made Washington a better place to live.

Nor was Carney the only one to say so. John McCormack, a senior writer at The Weekly Standard (a sister publication of the Washington Examiner), tweeted that he was treated the same way by Kate.

The lament of Kate’s loss went well beyond the conservative world. CNN bureau chief Sam Feist, who produced the channel’s “Capital Gang” for many years, wrote:

She could make an argument better, faster and with more wit than almost anyone else in Washington.

Every Saturday on “Capital Gang,” Kate would take on the likes of Robert Novak, Al Hunt, Mark Shields and Margaret Carlson. Sometimes she would take them all on at once. Their debates were often verbal knife fights that were as heated as they were illuminating.

Although the other members of the “Gang” were some of Kate’s closest friends, their arguments on and off the air were intense and could get personal as they frequently turned into screaming matches. But that was Kate O’Beirne. What made her so effective was the strength of her convictions and her ability to craft a brilliant argument. She believed that a more conservative America was a better America for everyone. And it was impossible to persuade her otherwise.

Sam Roberts of the New York Times wrote a nice obituary, leading by mentioning that Kate “cogently advanced the conservative agenda in the pages of National Review and unflinchingly defended it on the CNN program ‘The Capital Gang.'”

Love and appreciation for Kate also extended out of punditry and into the political world, with Rep. Barbara Comstock, R-Va., releasing a statement praising Kate’s “class, wit, and faith.”

Virginia Republican Ed Gillespie, a gubernatorial candidate in 2017, added this tweet.

One thing you’ll see in almost every remembrance of Kate is an appreciation for her wit. Without it, the world is a little less fun, and a little more quiet. Rest in peace, Kate.

Jason Russell is the contributors editor for the Washington Examiner.