New York publishers discover conservatives—just a little too late.

Could the appetite for political books—and for right-wing political books in particular—have peaked already? Only four of the Times' top 15 sellers this week are political. Of them, only two are the sort that Matalin would want to publish: Fleischer's book and Mark Levin's Men in Black, a Regnery offering that details how the Supreme Court (a body with seven members appointed by Republican presidents) is ruining America. The paperback best-seller list doesn't look much better.

There's a final reason to be wary of S&S's move. S&S Publisher David Rosenthal* said that hiring Mary Matalin "seemed liked a cool idea.'' Whenever a top executive at a publicly held company says he is doing something because it is "cool," it's time to flee.

*Correction, March 29: The article originally misstated the first name of Simon & Schuster's publisher. His name is David Rosenthal, not Steve Rosenthal.