Tale of Two Cities

It isn’t often that you get reading suggestions from a United States senator, but that’s what happened this past weekend for those who attended the National Review Institute’s summit meeting in Washington, D.C.

The three-day conclave, part election post-mortem and part revival meeting (that is, reviving conservatism and America), featured a bracing dose of conservative intellectuals along with activists, campaign professionals and office holders. Newly minted Senator Ted Cruz of Texas spoke in his characteristic fashion — fluidly without notes or podium.

Cruz, while praising Mitt Romney in gen...