And now it’s official: San Francisco mayor and homo lover hetero-person Gavin Newsom is running for governor of California! Because he’s all Web 2.0 cool, he made the announcement via Twitter (pictured: Newsom demonstrating his understanding of complex technology), though the Newsom for Governor Exploratory Committee has already been bandied about. So what’s a Newsom Golden State look like? Well he’ll probably overturn Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s veto and institute Harvey Milk Day (and encourage rampant sex in the streets!), green the economy (and drain profits from helpless oil companies!), increase spending on education (and force teachers to instruct students on anal sex!), extend an olive branch to illegal immigrants (and make them have gay sex with each other!), and provide more funds for health care (free HIV tests!). Or, at the very least, show opponent Meg Whitman the door.
Gay-Loving Heteros
Gavin Newsom Ensures Meg Whitman Showdown for California Governor
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rogue dandelion
Is it just me, or is that the best platform any politician could possibly have.
Michael W.
Governor now, hopefully President someday.
John (yet another John)
Where can I donate to his campaign?! This man has stood up for us more than any other political figure, ever! Please post a link to a donation site today!
Dabq
I don’t see him as winning the primary outside of the Bay Area, once the big, scary pro gay rights guy is in the room, many of the same religious zealots and the Mormons and Catholic church get in on the three ring circus that was Prop 8, the GOP will win again, even with a lackluster bigot like Meg Whitman.
Plus, I think that many of the Dem’s will go with Jerry Brown or Villiragosa the mayor of Los Angeles.
Michael
Donate at
actblue.com/contribute/page/gavinnewsom?refcode=announce_prospect_email
Newsom’s not perfect anymore than any of us. But there’s no better evidence of his sincerity than the fact that he keeps defending marriage equality even after it made him a pariah in his own party [did you see him on the Convention platform last summer? No!] and may cost him the governorship [and nearly cost him his life—over 1400 death threats in 2004 alone].
Young but not too young, handsome, sexy, charismatic, a born speaker, smart, able to talk ad lib in detail about any issue, ahead of the curve on the environment, on helping not perpetuating homelessness, on city mandated/provided health care … I am certain of nothing more than that the Democrats would already be grooming him to be their 2016 Presidential candidate if they weren’t such cowards about marriage equality.
InExile
What a wonderful man! Imagine a politician that actually takes a stand for what he believes in instead of just pandering like most do. Couldn’t he just run for President in 2012 instead!
John (yet another John)
Thanks Michael! Just gave him $200. He is going to need all the $$$ we can give him.
Michael W.
@InExile: Why would he run for 2012? He’ll lose. No Democrat, including Hillary Clinton, could defeat Obama in the primary and Obama is a better man for the job today.
Bertie
oh trust us — Obama can and will be defeated without the gay vote next time.
Obama and his “personal beliefs” about marriage between “a man and a woman” can take a hike. Civil Marriage is a Civil Right.
Dabq
@Bertie: This is true, McCain got 27% of the gay vote, and, from these boards, Palin, Sanford, Perry or Jindal will get an even higher number of gay votes in 2012, I’m sure that many here will donate money and time to make sure they get into office and help the cause of equality.
Bertie
I don’t vote for bullshit artists who won’t dare speak for me any longer. period.
I hope Gavin wins CA and then goes independent for 2012 Prez race.
Camilo
I think he is far too Left for areas out side of San Francisco and other 2 or 3 small gay enclaves spattered through out the state (like West Hollywood and Hillcrest in San Diego). And if he DID win the Dem nomination, he’d be doomed to lose the election to the evil Meg Whitman. So he’s a dream candidate, but just a dream.
We need someone who packs the punch of a Jerry Brown or even someone who comes across a little more balanced such as L.A. Mayor Antonio Villarigosa (hey, the mayors of both L.A. and S.F. have both cheated on their wives and support gay marriage!).
Jerry Brown for the win.
AJ
And what’s funny is that Newsom is considered moderate by SF standards. He has NO! chance.
Bruno
It’s a good thing if he doesn’t become governor of CA, that job is basically a vortex of predesigned failure. How can one manage a state where the entire budget has already been allocated via ridiculous ballot initiatives? I think Gav should go the legislature route, he’d be great in Washington.
InExile
@Michael W.: I will not vote for someone that does not stand up for LGBT issues! So far Meghan McCain has made more of a stand on marriage equality than our President! The silence since elected is deafening.
Good lord
I find his choice of office to run for confusing, but he’s getting better advice than I could provide, I’m sure. He is considered the wicked witch by the sf ultra-left faux-gressive camp, and the devil incarnate by the right wing. Looking at the numbers on prop 8, one does wonder how he could get more than a 3rd of the vote, but in a run off, against a flaky Republican… who knows. Jerry Brown has a lot of baggage, and Meg Whitman is about as commanding a presence as one of those troll dolls they sell on e-bay.
Lee
He’s running for governor because that’s the next highest office with an “opening.”
State senate or house is a step down from being mayor of a city like SF.
Feinstein and Boxer have locks on the CA US Senate seats.
Pelosi the same on the US Congressional district that includes San Francisco.
Why ANYONE would want to be governor of a country-sized state like CA escapes me [or mayor of loony tunes SF for that matter].
When I heard DiFi was considering running, I was hoping that he would run for her Senate seat. But….
Sure I’d take Brown over any Repug, but, while I agree with him about most issues [tho he was a jerk about marriage for a while], he’s given me the creeps from the moment I first heard him speak years ago. Even through my TV, I can smell the bullshit seeping through his every pore.
Captain Freedom
@Dabq:
You are a small thinker. There is no room for small thinkers and pessimists in the post-Prop 8 world. We don’t have the time or energy.
7 million people voted for Prop 8. 7 million in a state with 40 million. They were fully energized, at the polls and way moreso than the opponents.
In 2010 they will have no momentum on their side. A large number of their supporters will have grown weary or tired. At the end of the day Gavin Newsom will become Governor and Prop 8 will be overturned and the GOP will continue to remain an extremist party in CA. Their registration numbers are at all time lows.
Get your facts straight before you go on an LGBT blog and post pessimistic bullshit based on fear and white flag surrenderism.
Ernesto
@Dabq: I wouldn’t be so sure about us Southlanders. Villaraigosa is not too popular among Angelenos as far as I can tell. And Newsom’s not too liberal to be elected in California…and he would wipe the floor with the witless Whitman. All that said, I’m not sure he has my vote. I actually kinda like Jerry “I’ll Hold This State Together With Tape and Baling Wire” Brown.
JR
Much as I love Gavin, he can’t win in the general. His defeat would look just like the Prop 8 vote, he’d carry the Bay Area, maybe a little down the coast but she’d crush him in the Central Valley.
I hope to God the Democrats have learned their lesson, they can’t bank on the Bay and SoCal being enough to overwhelm the inland conservatives and the OC.
Sorry folks, I’ve got to go with Jerry.
Michael
His YouTube announcement [with parts in THREE languages]:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BH0jnyuJ1Tg
Dabq
@Ernesto: I think that Villargosa has a good shot and in the past few weeks after his reelection has been sounding quite gubernatorial, he may not be well known outside of LA, but, he has a great message that appeals to many, and, most of all, if he can unite the many factions of LA, which are always a step away from a riot, he can run the state.
Jerry Brown? He has come full circle, but, he didn’t do that great a job when he was mayor of Oakland, and, the GOP will float that out, along with his age.
Newsom I just don’t see as winning a state wide election, but, then again, I didn’t think the voters could be duped by Arnold, so, who knows, although I still think the GOP will chew him up and spend tons of money doing so if he is the candidate.