The San Francisco Chronicle has a few stories in the last couple of days that give insight into the soon-to-be Minority Leader. Matier and Ross ask if she's a "Latte Liberal". (Not that there's anything wrong with a latte. I start most days with a latte. You can call me a Latte Libertarian). Their answer is yes, Pelosi is a Latte Liberal, but she's more than that, she's also a ruthless and vindictive operator who never forgets an insult.

Meanwhile Washington Bureau Chief Marc Sandalow explains how Pelosi clinched the leadership post: she raised $8 million and doled out more campaign cash than any other Democrat last year (improperly, some say, but the Chronicle overlooks this). Sandalow quotes California state Sen. John Burton: "Some people are in government, and some people are in politics, Nancy Pelosi cut her teeth in politics." Which would be consistent with her habitual cluelessness on foreign affairs, economics and other aspects of governance. And in Pelosi's own words: "Politics is about motion, You are either going forward, or you are going backward." So she is using her political savvy to take us forward to the good old days of the McGovern Administration.

Today's paper recaps her appearance on yesterday's Meet the Press. As usual, the Chronicle accepts without question her vapid statements on Iraq. But the money in the article is the insight that Pelosi "prefers to describe herself as an Italian American grandmother of five". When you combine that with the side of her that is a vindictive backroom operator, you realize that underneath the big grin and the non-fat almond latte she is in fact ... Livia Soprano! So maybe there is hope for her after all. All we need to do is convince her that George Bush is not Tony Soprano. Saddam Hussein is Tony Soprano.