I tend to think the Mayor of San Francisco has no chance of getting elected governor. He has a habit of putting his foot in his mouth. He's married two minor celebrities, pretty, skinny young women. And when those things are combined with his looks and money, it is not a surprise that the press sometimes covers him as a sort of male Paris Hilton. Plus he's in favor of gay marriage. Put a bow on all that, and the ever salacious, style-over-substance press is likely to cover him as something akin to a 21st-century Patty Heart - say, a dangerous, deluded, wacky child of privilege who's in league with dirty hippies. Again, it's not only the fault of the press. Newsom makes it easy for them. But given that they are 100 times more likely to cover his private life or anything that can negatively be labeled "San Francisco" than they are likely to cover the details of budget bills or prison reform, it seems unlikely Newsom can win.
Which may be sad. Mark Kleiman didn't enter this event thinking much of Newsom. He saw him as a himbo. But after listening to him he came away thinking more of Newsom than anyone else running for governor.
Posted by armand at March 18, 2009 10:08 AM | TrackBack | Posted to Politics