bricology ([info]bricology) wrote,
@ 2007-01-31 22:13:00
Previous Entry  Add to memories!  Tell a Friend  Next Entry
Current mood:pissed

Bad bedfellows
As some of you other Bay Area folks may have heard, San Francisco's Mayor, Gavin Newsom, has just been revealed to have had a brief affair with the wife of his former campaign manager and deputy chief of staff, while she was volunteering in the Mayor's office. Newsom has a long reputation as an -- er -- busy fellow (when he's not deflecting rumors of being gay), and is seen with a different girl at most events. His divorce from FoxTV legal reporter (and former Victoria's Secret lingerie model) Kimberly Guilfoyle raised many an eyebrow, as the couple was seen as having a sort of Kennedy-esque image; perhaps the Kennedy philandering is the commonalty.


The fallout from this latest incident, revealed on the San Francisco Chronicle's website this evening, has been immediate and vituperative. On their website, readers have been weighing in with their opinions about the revelations, and disapproval is outweighing tolerance by a large margin. Newsom has been golden so far, with sky-high approval ratings, despite having relatively few solid accomplishments to point to. His gay marriage action -- which backfired when the court got ahold of it -- won him some fans for the statement it made, but cost him a larger audience; now many Democrats for whom he has fund-raised (such as Barack Obama) refuse to be photographed with him, or even shake his hand. And his Care, Not Cash campaign to reduce the number of homeless people on San Francisco's streets, has alienated many of the City's more liberal folks. But still -- the "Camelot glow" was there. Until tonight.

Personally, I don't care that Newsom has slept with a slew of different women since his divorce; he's young, handsome, charming, powerful -- his appeal is obvious, and his options were wide open. Nor is he the first of our Mayors to have a busy social life, or even to combine business and pleasure. His predecessor, Willie Brown, has the morals of an alley cat and worked more than one of his "girlfriends" into plum city jobs. What makes this situation different is that Newsom betrayed his trusted lieutenant with his wife. Sex is a private matter, but betrayal of an employee with their spouse says volumes about a person's character. I won't go so far as to ask Newsom to resign, but I think that he should consider this to be the end of his credibility. I'm disappointed to have supported him and defended him so far. And I fear that this is going to do our city even more harm.

(9 comments) - (Post a new comment)


[info]kamakhai
2007-02-01 07:16 am UTC (link)
Wow, I hadn't heard about this yet.. or about being drunk at the vigil. Very classy. I'm curious to see how it all plays out.

(Reply to this)


[info]bifteck
2007-02-01 04:06 pm UTC (link)
Clearly, these problems all stem from his inability to button his shirt up and find an appropriate tie to wear with his suit.

(Reply to this)


[info]framework
2007-02-01 05:21 pm UTC (link)
If he'd raped the woman I might feel similarly. But although one expects public servants to hold to a certain standard.s. well... she was there, too.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

[info]bricology
2007-02-01 06:43 pm UTC (link)
It's not that I have any problem with the "consenting adults" aspect of it. I can even get past the fact that she was his employee at the time. The part that I find unforgivable is that he intentionally deceived his own campaign manager and asst. chief of staff (who has been totally loyal to Newsom) by sleeping with his wife. It's betrayal on that level that bothers me. If he's willing to do something that unethical, how on earth can he expect us to believe that he's not unethical in other ways? Malfeasance? Embezzlement? Selling influence? His credibility is irreparable.

Newsom's not stupid. I've had personal dealings with him, and he's a very sharp person. But at some point, I know that he had to consider the possible consequences of this affair, and very likely while he was in the midst of it. He either thought that no one would find out (which is naive in the extreme), or that -- if they did find out -- he could survive it politically (which is still naive), or that the worst likely repercussions didn't really matter to him, because he either didn't care about his political career or that he was trying to self-destruct.

This is a nightmare for external reasons too. It gives far more ammunition to the neo-cons who have already been harping on "San Francisco values". What a perfect gift for them! Pelosi and Newsom are homies and longtime allies, so it smears her. It also means that the rest of Newsom's term will be spent dealing with this scandal, rather than doing anything productive for the City. And worst of all, if Newsom resigns, that means that Aaron Peskin will become interim Mayor; a frightening thought.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)

[info]butterflyrobert
2007-02-01 10:00 pm UTC (link)
how on earth can he expect us to believe that he's not unethical in other ways?

In the U.S., it's common knowledge that all politicians are unethical (read: extraordinarily corrupt) - it's partly why most people don't vote.

But, as for affecting the naive voting minority (good folks such as you and I), it will likely harm San Francisco and provide ammunition for conservatives.

(Reply to this) (Parent)
I don't know, man
[info]lupoleboucher
2007-02-02 01:37 am UTC (link)
What politician is not porking one of his underlings? Bush-1 was. Bill Clinton was and rumor has it still is (he refers to his hot looking secret service agent as "his other wife"). I'd like to imagine it was more than a Freudian slip when Condaleeza called Bush-2 her "husband," as it makes them both seem more human. Our esteemed Gropinator almost certainly is bouncing someone off his steroid withered knees, and she's probably on the payroll too. Willie Brown actually knocked up someone who worked for him; got her a free apartment and a couple million bucks worth of graft as well.

I wouldn't worry too much about what the right wingers say. The simple fact that he is from San Francisco is enough to discredit Newsom in their mind. Shucks, people bag on my amazon reviews because I'm from Berkeley, and I'm hardly a leftist at all.

Anyway, I do agree with biftek; if he wore a tie, perhaps propriety would have prevailed. Also; less hair gel, please.

(Reply to this) (Thread)
Re: I don't know, man
[info]bricology
2007-02-02 04:29 am UTC (link)
I'm with you entirely on the hair gel and tie issues. But I have to emphasize that I don't care about the sex aspect of it; that's not my objection. He could have a lottery to select three different women per day to serve him; I wouldn't care one bit. And I accept that probably 95% of politicians are fooling around, as well as the majority of people in positions of influence, in general.

What I object to is the justification in Newsom's mind that would allow him to deceive his right-hand lieutenant like that, just for a few minutes of fun with that man's wife. If that's the way that Newsom's mind works for an issue that could cost him his career, what other duplicity is he justifying for his own interests? And is it at the expense of the interests of his electorate? I now have to wonder.

(Reply to this) (Parent)(Thread)
Re: I don't know, man
[info]lupoleboucher
2007-02-02 07:20 am UTC (link)
I guess somehow my mind filtered out that she was his pal's wife. That is pretty creepy. Entirely consistent with the lack of tie and hair gel though.

Ah well. There's always ... Gonzalez. I don't like his politics, but he's principled enough that he actually takes the bus.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

[info]horsdumonde
2007-02-02 05:42 pm UTC (link)
Newsom used poor judgment and what he did was certainly in poor taste, but I suppose that I'm alone in the opinion that it's entirely between him, his friend, and Ruby Rippey-Tourk. I find much more to criticise in Rippey-Tourk's decision to kiss-and-tell, which was a really appalling thing to do, because it was she alone who exposed the affair to the entire world. But nobody's pointing fingers at her, because Newson is the mayor which is somehow different than a human being. Verdict: One hand slap and the possible loss of a best friend for Newsom, two hand slaps and a possible divorce for Rippey-Tourk, and three hand slaps for the media, for doing what they do best every chance they get, thus being a "repeat offender." I do hope we hear no more about it, but of course we will, ad nauseam.

(Reply to this)

(9 comments) - (Post a new comment)

Create an Account
Forgot your login or password?
Login w/ OpenID
English • Español • Deutsch • Русский…