They all know his history with Pelosi, his enmity, that he's ambitious and getting a lot of free national exposure, and that he'll end up being bought off.
Most important is probably not arousing dislike and contempt but rather his soaring ambition. He could never be elected president, probably not even make it to the first debate, if he allied with Republicans to oust replace our most effective and powerful leader (the "architect of the ACA" and a woman in the "year of the woman" ) with a weak speaker satisfying to the Republicans.
Politico: Moulton has three degrees from Harvard, and he did four difficult, decorated tours as a Marine in Iraq. But he’s still a neophyte in the House of Representatives, and in politics. This is the first office of any kind he’s ever held. In the wake, though, of last fall’s terrain-altering election, Ferson detected an opening. “This,” he told me, “is a moment in time where he is the exact right person to run for president.”
This conversation—reported here for the first time—is precisely the type of talk that’s currently causing disgusted eye-rolling among significantly more tenured Democrats in Massachusetts and Washington. They dismiss Moulton, albeit never for attribution, as gratingly ambitious, a grandstanding backbencher who has advocated for the ouster of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi to make way for new, younger standard-bearers—like himself. They see Moulton’s message of country over party as not so much admirable as annoying. “It’s the supercilious, sanctimonious Oh, golly gee,” one longtime political observer of his district said of Moulton’s assertions of selflessness. Some of the opinions on Capitol Hill are even more scathing. “I don’t think I’ve seen a more opportunistic, duplicitous person serving in the House,” said a senior Democratic aide, blasting Moulton as somebody who talks bigger than he plays and who pillories Pelosi while almost always voting the same way. “He doesn’t do anything around here,” the aide said. Other members who are more supportive are reluctant to say so publicly—cautious about being seen as “giving him a bear hug,” as one Hill staffer put it, “while he’s knifing the leader.”
Slate: But as I watch him awkwardly work this heartland crowd, I can’t help but wonder if he’s a candidate custom-built for a different era: a Harvard-bred white guy who thinks he deserves to be in charge, at a moment when neither party’s in the market for one of those. ... When I asked Moulton if the race and gender of a politician matter to Democratic voters, he said, “No, their values matter. We’re a party that doesn’t discriminate, not a party that does.”
He’d barely wet his feet in D.C. before calling for Nancy Pelosi’s head and demanding “younger” party leadership. He’s generally worn his ambition on his preppy, gingham sleeve in a manner so grating that Politico found anonymous sources happy to call him “sanctimonious,” “supercilious,” and “duplicitous.” Since he entered Congress in 2014, Moulton hasn’t made much of a legislative mark but has devoted an inordinate hunk of energy—and public comment—to hating on his Democratic colleagues. ...
https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2017/10/who-is-seth-moulton-for.htmlFor those who dislike him but want to know the good part of his resume, this should be a satisfying article. The author clearly doesn't trust the picture he's trying to project and also clearly believes we're all eventually going to be asked to vote for him. I'm emphatically not in the group he's positioned himself to appeal to by trying to take down the one woman in America's top political leadership.
= new reply since forum marked as read
