Dems should pray for a moderate

From David Warsh, proprietor of economicprincipals.com

To describe Martin F. Nolan, former Washington bureau chief and editorial page editor of The Boston Globe, as “an American journalist” is like calling Cyrano’s nose ‘big,’ though the rest of Nolan’s Wikipedia page gives a pretty good sense of the man. He wrote last week to say,

“I agree that Nancy Pelosi is fully qualified to run and win a presidential race. But several things, historical and personal:

“Speakers do not flourish in the Electoral College. Ask Henry Clay, Schuyler Colfax and John Garner. Old Cactus Jack did become FDR's VP, thanks to a delegate deal worked out at the 1932 Dem convention by William Randolph Hearst.

“Nancy is not interested in VP. Also, she has been so successful as Speaker that her likely successors resemble the junior varsity. Take Steny Hoyer and Jim Clyburn, please.

“Nancy is my Congresswoman and I've known her a long time. She is a protégé of the Burton family – Phillip, Sala and John – as powerful in SF as the D'Alesandros in Baltimore [Pelosi’s father, Thomas d’Alesandro Jr. was mayor of that city]. In 2016, she worked hard for Hillary perhaps hoping that her happy reward would be the US Embassy in Rome.

“If the Dems are lucky, a plethora of socialist lefties will allow a traditional moderate to prosper. Sherrod Brown won in Ohio, which bodes well for Dem success in Pennsylvania and Michigan, states taken for granted in 2016 by the Clinton campaign.

“Warning: a President Pence will not be easy to defeat,"