Chronicle's Bias Favors Newsom

As we head into the home stretch, it's interesting to see how the San Francisco Chronicle is presenting the mayoral race between Matt Gonzalez and Gavin Newsom. Here are just a few things that the Chronicle has recently told its readers:

• Newsom is playing fair, while Gonzalez's supporters are telling "desperate," "blatant lies."
  
  
• Gonzalez called Mayor Willie Brown "a liar Wednesday for suggesting publicly that Gonzalez has consistently voted against blacks seeking city jobs and appointments." (The Chronicle made no comment on the veracity of Brown's accusations.)
  
  
• "Each candidate has forged alliances that raise questions about whether he might continue some of the questionable practices of Willie Brown."
  
  
• "Both Gonzalez and Newsom have been guilty of picking the parts of the truth they like" for inclusion in their campaign literature.
  
  
• Both candidates are "major hotties."

When the Chronicle isn't reporting favorably on Newsom or negatively on Gonzalez, it's making comments or criticism directed at BOTH candidates. Is the Chronicle trying to appear fair and balanced? If they do aim for unbiased coverage, why haven't they told their readers that Gavin Newsom has outspent Matt Gonzalez 20 to 1, and has violated the city's campaign finance regulations? It's no secret that the Chronicle endorsed Newsom in the first election. I suppose the Chronicle's biased coverage of the runoff campaign shows that their endorsement is still good.

Gavin Newsom is Al Gore, Only Younger --
Just Another Republican Lite

The Democrats are really scared that Matt Gonzalez is going to beat Gavin Newsom in the December 9th run-off. As well they should be. Gonzalez has momentum, and, despite Newsom having outspent him by a ridiculous margin (millions of dollars versus tens of thousands), is leading in the polls. As well he should be. He's a better candidate with a philosophy and track record that is more in line with San Francisco's Democratic values than are Newsom's, despite Gavin's support from some of the parties heaviest hitters. One of them is coming to town to stump for him -- Al Gore.

The Democrats are now concerned that losing the San Francisco Mayor's Office will be an embarassment to the party -- not that the party is short on sources of embarrassment these days, namely Gray Davis being recalled and replaced by Arnold Schwarzenegger, losing control of the US Senate, being bullied and beaten by George Bush and his ridiculously authoritarian and elitist policies. Peter Camejo knows what this run-off is really about. "This is not a Green versus Democrat fight,'' he said. "It's a coalition of Greens, progressive Democrats and independents against moderate and conservative Democrats and Republicans.''

Take a look at the numbers and you'll see quite clearly that Republicans overwhelming support Newsom, while Democrats, Greens and Independents support Gonzalez. San Francisco voters should support the better candidate, regardless of party affiliation. But San Francisco is still a Willie Brown-machine town, despite the fact that the Board of Supervisors has Gonzalez, Daly and Peskin as members. So the Democrats are happy to run another attractive, articulate pro-business candidate with lofty ambitions who will cater to their moneyed supporters over their liberal base.

Angela Alioto is so afraid of the Democratic machine that she second guessed her plans to endorse Matt last Thursday. Thankfully, not all Democrats are so timid. Former San Francisco Mayor Art Agnos is just one among many high profile Democrat who now support Matt Gonzalez.

"The answers don't come from Democrats or Republicans or Greens.

I am a life long Democrat ... and what I found is, in the Mayor's office with tough decisions, you are often alone, with your character, principles, integrity, humility, ability and vision to guide you.

I believe Matt Gonzalez has those qualities. That's why I endorsed him when he ran as a Democrat for supervisor, continued to endorse and support him when he became a Green to escape the business as usual politics of the city.

If you don't think that Gavin Newsom is a lot like Al Gore, and really just another Republican in disguise, listen to what Republican Ryan Chamberlain, District 1 Manager for the Newsom for Mayor campaign sent in an e-mail to Newsom's supporters, saying that Greens supporting Gonzalez are coming to town from places "where money is evil unless it's taken from someone who earned it and given to someone who didn't.'' (Hey Ryan, who is taking our hard-earned tax dollars and giving them to Halliburton, Bechtel and their GOP-supporting ilk?)

As long as the Democratic Party gives us Republicans Lite like Gray Davis, Cruz Bustamante, Al Gore, Joseph Lieberman and Gavin Newsom, they simply don't deserve our support, which is why I'm encouraging all of my Democratic friends to vote for Gonzalez on December 9th.

Martin Sheen Endorses Matt Gonzalez

From the San Francisco Chronicle:

"Matt represents the best of American values, values that make San Francisco a wonderful city to live in, work in, and visit. I am pleased to lend my name to his candidacy."

Does the Gavin Newsom banner ad appear above every story related to the runoff campaign?

Where was Gavin Newsom?

Gavin Newsom's face is hard to miss these days. He's spent over $2 million on his unsuccessful mayoral campaign, not to mention efforts to demonize the poor and homeless with his mean-spirited vanity campaigns, Proposition M and "Care Not Cash."

Since Newsom is never one to shy away from publicity, it comes as a surprise that he is absent from the current Board of Supervisors photo on the City of San Francisco website [click images for larger view]. There is obviously someone posing in his place, but who is it? And why isn't he identified?

What gives, Gavin? You managed to show up when Tom Ammiano was President. Couldn't you bother to pose with your fellow Supervisors? Did you have more important business to attend to? Maybe you had a meeting with one of your rich benefactors? Or was your absence meant to be a slight against the current Board President, Matt Gonzalez?

Gavin Newsom's absence from the Board photo says a lot about the kind of mayor he would be, should we elect him.

Why Newsom is Worse Off Than He Will Let On

I mentioned yesterday that KPIX's Hank Plante seemed surprised, even confused, by the results of his CBS affiliate's poll, showing Matt Gonzalez leading Gavin Newsom by a few percentage points.

Our local all-news channel, and former NBC affiliate, KRON ran a story describing the race as "close," a "statistical dead heat."

The local FOX affiliate, KTVU, ran the same story with a different headline, calling Gonzalez's advantage "slight."

The major daily newspaper, the San Francisco Chronicle, ran a very different, and more biased story, with the headline:

New poll shows Gonzalez out in front
He leads Newsom 49% to 47% in S.F. mayor's race

This seems pretty favorable, and certainly tells much of the story. The lead paragraph immediately suggests otherwise, saying the race is "too close to call, but Supervisor Matt Gonzalez has a small lead among those most likely to vote Dec. 9."

They Chron also added an interesting conditional statement that KPIX, KRON and KTVU either omitted or missed:

The poll, taken earlier this week by SurveyUSA of New Jersey, gave Gonzalez a surprising 49 to 47 percent lead over Supervisor Gavin Newsom among those certain to vote in the runoff. Among probable voters, Newsom had a 46 percent to 43 percent advantage. Both results are within the poll's margin of error.

Let me get this straight, Gonzalez leads by two percent "among those certain to vote in the runoff," but trails by three percent "among probable voters?"

Like the others, the Chron was surprised by the overall results, indicating that the local media either doesn't get what this election is about, doesn't believe the polling data, or doesn't want Gonzalez to win.

Newsom's chief campaign consultant, Eric Jaye, suggested rather sinisterly that automated phone surveys like this one are "notoriously unreliable."

The Newsom camp is still confident that it has a broader base of support, especially since most Republicans supported its candidate and enough Democrats did to get him to 40% - high, but not a majority. What they pretend not to understand is that 60% of voters didn't want him - and still don't.

The Chron does a lot to help the Newsom camp appear confident, and bolsters its confidence with easily manipulated data, but in the end such a strategy can only backfire, as voters who back Matt eventually realize that they are in the majority, and for good reason. San Franciscans are good, honest people at heart, and believe in merit, not patronage; in honesty, not pandering. And that's why more and more of them are supporting Matt everyday, for a better mayor, and for a better San Francisco.

Matt Leads KPIX Poll
Hank Plante Confused by Results

First, the good news: KPIX polled 543 San Francisco voters and found that a majority will choose Matt Gonzalez as Mayor over Gavin Newsom on December 9th, 49% to 47%.

Second, but there is a catch. Hank Plante, and the local media in general, still don't get it, or worse, are going out of their way to dampen any enthusiasm around Matt Gonzalez's mayoral campaign. Plante writes:

But perhaps the most interesting statistic in it, was the question for people who voted last week for candidates other than Newsom or Gonzalez. When asked who they would vote for now, Gonzalez beats Newsom by about two to one: 59% for Gonzalez, to 29% for Newsom.

"Polls don't vote, people vote," Newsom said.

Newsom says his own internal polls show him well ahead of Gonzalez. And after all, in last week's election, Newsom did substantially outdo Gonzalez.

"You don't get a poll like this and pack up your outfit and go home," Gonzalez said. "But for us, it's a good indication that we have a real viability here. And that's what we feel good about."

Why should Plante be surprised that voters who didn't like Gavin Newsom last week, still don't like him? And what is with the "And after all ... Newsom did substantially outdo Gonzalez" comment? Uh, yeah, you're right, Sherlock, but that's only because there were four candidates splitting the liberal vote against one viable conservative candidate.

On a completely frivolous note, it looks as if Matt got a haircut and is using hair gel. It's about time. I mean, you're cool and all, Matt, but appearances do count for something. Speaking of appearances counting, you might want to talk to some of your volunteers about theirs.

Matt Picks Up Big, Surprising Endorsements

From today's Chronicle, "S.F. rivals battle for endorsements; In surprising move, builders' group supports Gonzalez":

Robert Haaland, president of the left-leaning Harvey Milk Democratic club, said the only debate at Tuesday's endorsement meeting was whether to cross party lines to back Gonzalez, a member of the Green Party, or make no endorsement. "When we have a Democratic candidate like Newsom whose positions are more like the Republicans on the signature issues this club cares a lot about, like district elections and public power, it makes for a much more difficult decision,'' Haaland said. Gonzalez, he added, shares more of the club's values. "It tends to be more about ideology than party,'' he said.

What raised eyebrows, however, was Gonzalez winning the endorsement of the Residential Builders Association, whose live-work loft construction projects Gonzalez opposed.

Joe O'Donoghue, who heads the association, said that despite the differences, Gonzalez is for the little guy, which appeals to his group. "Matt is for the working people, the disenfranchised, and that's what this race is about,'' said O'Donoghue. "It's about the haves and the have-nots.''

Ross Mirkarimi, a campaign strategist for Gonzalez, called the endorsement "interesting and ironic,'' but said "it shows that even those who may disagree with Matt Gonzalez know that he's someone they can trust.''

What Andrew Lee Means to the Mayoral Run-Off

Willie Brown made the San Francisco Mayor’s office his own private fiefdom by handing out political appointments in exchange for personal favors. Last month Supervisor Chris Daly made two appointments to the Public Utilities Commission while Brown was on a trip to Tibet, effectively usurping Brown’s privilege of patronage. As soon as Brown learned what had happened, he cut his trip short and flew back to San Francisco to make two appointments of his own. City Attorney Dennis Herrera has since ruled that one of Daly’s appointments can stand, while Willie Brown’s appointment of Andrew Lee is valid.

While the media’s attention has focused on the legality of Daly’s action, I think it’s worth comparing Daly’s appointment to Willie Brown’s. Daly appointed environmentalist and former Sierra Club president Adam Werbach. Willie Brown appointed Andrew Lee, employee of Secretary of State Kevin Shelley, and son of Julie Lee, “a Chinese American community activist who is a political supporter of and volunteer fund-raiser for Brown.”

While Daly made an appointment that seems to have the city’s best environmental interests in mind, Brown appointed the son of someone whom he owes a big favor and the employee of a close political ally, who also incidentally just endorsed Brown’s anointed heir – Gavin Newsom. This isn't the first time Brown has given Lee such a position.

The saga of Brown's four-year link to Andrew Lee's meager political career is bizarre, eccentric, and yet representative of lowest-common-denominator San Francisco politics.

Willie Brown was a political leader so enthralled by the romance of deal-making that he allowed public agencies to become bastions of patronage, built fabulous monuments while allowing the city to be mismanaged, and set a remarkably low standard for public integrity in San Francisco.

If polls are any guide, our next mayor will be heir to that legacy.

Unless our next mayor is Matt Gonzalez.

Matt Gonzalez in MATTrix Revolutions

I'm not sure whom Don Asmussen supports, but his cartoon depicting Matt Gonzalez as Keanu Reeves is good for a chuckle or two.

Matt Gonzalez Condemns McCarthyist Tactics

"I'm a member of the Green Party. I'm proud of that. But I also want to say that I would not be a member of the Board of Supervisors had I not been elected by Democrats. And I would not have been president of the Board of Supervisors if I had not been elected by Democrats. And I would not be in a runoff in this race for mayor if Democrats had not voted for me."

"We don't want to cast this race as simply Greens vs. Democrats. We're also trying to undermine the efforts of the other side in casting the race in that way because we think they are appealing to a certain type of red-baiting of the old days, a certain kind of McCarthyism almost, this idea that, oh my God, if you're associated with the Green Party, there's something different about you."

Matt Gonzalez Speaks at the Green Festival

Matt Gonzalez briefly took to the main stage today at the second annual Green Festival, after Greg Palast finished a scorching 40-minute talk on the war in Iraq, the Florida election, and the murder by burial of Tanzanian miners by the Barrick Corporation, which employs former President George H.W. Bush.

Gonzalez is a very good speaker. Both his intelligence and his honesty come across clearly. It's good to see that he's not afraid to call himself and Supervisor Chris Daly "lefties" or "progressives." It's also good to see him tout his fiscal conservatism, which might come as a surprise to many voters. The more I learn about Gonzalez, the more I think he'll make a better mayor than Newsom, and a better city of San Francisco.

Can Matt Gonzalez Win?

Since Tuesday, people have said to me things along the lines of: "I would love to see him elected, but Newsom's lead is just too large. Matt Gonzalez doesn't have a chance."

Or does he? Gavin Newsom has had well over a year to convince San Francisco voters that he should be mayor, and spent much of his $2.4 million war chest to make his case -- unsuccessfully. Gonzalez announced that he would run just 90 days before the election and managed to get more votes as a Green Party candidate than did more established Democrats like Angela Alioto, Tom Ammiano and Susan Leal. (Too much is already being made of Gonzalez's party affiliation. Newsom may be a registered Democrat, but Matt Gonzalez's views are more in line with San Francisco Democrats than are Gavin's.)

The numbers do seem to favor Newsom. He received 86,470 votes, while Gonzalez only received 40,213. While voter turnout was low (45%) last Tuesday, it can be expected to be even lower for the December 9th run-off. That could favor Gonzalez, if his supporters are more motivated to vote.

Also consider this: 71,706 voters wanted Alioto, Ammiano or Leal, other than Newsom or Gonzalez. Although some think otherwise, it's fair to assume that these voters are more likely to vote against Newsom in the run-off, rather than for him. Otherwise, wouldn't they have voted for him in the first place?

The local and national press are also helping Gonzalez, albeit unwittingly. By reporting Newsom's advantages, they are increasing the likelihood of his supporters staying at home, as they'll think that the election is a lock.

Can Matt Gonzalez win? Yes, but it's going to be difficult.

History in the Making
Matt Gonzalez Could Become America's First Green Party Mayor

On December 9th, San Francisco can elect the nation's first Green Party mayor -- Matt Gonzalez. It's not going to be easy, especially since some are now calling San Francisco a beach head for the Democrats.

The issue isn't whether San Francisco should have a Green or Democrat mayor, although Newsom's camp is likely to make that their focus. The issue is whether Gonzalez or Newsom is better suited to govern the city, and which candidate's positions are more in line with those of voters.

Voters must decide whether the next mayor should represent the interests of the people or big business. Matt Gonzalez is the current President of the Board of Supervisors, a Democrat who turned Green, a child of immigrant parents, graduate of Columbia University and Stanford Law, and a patron of the arts. Gavin Newsom is considered a rising star in the Democratic Party, endorsed by Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Rep. Nancy Pelosi, friend of the Getty family and a successful businessman. Gonzalez stands up for civil and human rights and is a problem-solver and consensus builder. Newsom serves the interests of the wealthy and is willing to use the poor and homeless as political fodder, as he has with Care Not Cash and Proposition M. The choice is clear.

Matt for Mayor!

In just 90 days, Matt Gonzalez managed to do what many said couldn't be done: enter a mayoral race against a clear, well-financed frontrunner and three City politics veterans and finish in second place, qualifying for a run-off on December 9th. Now it's anyone's race. Will those who voted for Alioto, Ammiano and Leal vote for Gonzalez? Will turnout be high or low? Can Gonzalez beat a candidate who can spend $100,000 a day, everyday, until the election?

There are lots of questions around this campaign. For the next six weeks I'll be watching every move and doing my part to get Matt Gonzalez in the mayor's office. Because San Francisco deserves better than another pay-to-play mayor who works only for himself and his patrons. Matt Gonzalez will make a better mayor, and a better San Francisco.