POLL: Who is the NYT Op-Ed writer?

[DeminPennswoods]

98. Guesses from The Last Word panel

O'Donnell thinks it's Coates because he knows Coates from his senate staffer days, the reference to McCain, a good friend and mentor to Coates, the fact that Coates has publically challenged Trump's claims about Russia not intefering in the election(s) and that at 75 this is Coates' last job.

Ron Klain also thinks it's Coates.
Jason Johnson thinks the op-ed was a combined effort of 2 or more people.
Jennifer Rubin felt it was someone a step below Cabinet level. She also noted the Russell Kirk quote.

When I first read the op-ed, the part about how much of the conservative agenda has been accomplished despite Trump struck me as oddly out of place. It was like the writer was trying to rehabilitate his/her reputation in advance. Someone who still will have political ambitions once the Trump presidency ends. That's not Coates. Then you have the part where as O'Donnell pointed out, author turns into reporter and cites someone else's direct experience. The op-ed is well written, but the "editor" couldn't quite smooth out all the bumps. When considered this way, it tends to support both Johnson's and Rubin's take: 2 or more authors, but pulled together by someone a step below, perhaps a speechwriter. I'm thinking maybe Pence could have been the person who gathered all the comments then had his speechwriter put the op-ed together and his office contacted the NYT. Remember the Times said the author reached out to them a few days before its submission, asking if they were interested in an op-ed piece.