Posted by
TheChair on Tuesday, October 14, 2008 12:07:02 PM
As I predicted in earlier posts, political experts are confirming that
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom has done more to help the passage of Prop. 8 than to hinder it. His "whether you like it or not" comments made for a fine Pro-Prop. 8 t.v. ad, and they certainly helped the cause, but his officiating at the lesbian wedding Friday with public school first graders present during school hours sealed the deal. He has become the unwitting Pro-Prop.-8 mascot. After Prop. 8 becomes the law, I intend to send the man a thank-you card. S.F. Chronicle reports:
The mayor has become the reluctant face of the campaign opposing same-sex unions with the help of a prominent Yes-on-Proposition-8 television ad. Conservative blogs have been atwitter about Newsom last week officiating at the wedding of a lesbian teacher whose class of first-graders took a field trip to celebrate with her.
In many ways, Newsom has become the single best campaign tool for proponents of Prop. 8 - and that might have been inevitable, political experts said.
"His pictures have become the rallying cry for Prop. 8. It's unfortunate for him, and it's unfortunate for the anti-Prop. 8 campaign," said Barbara O'Connor, a professor of political communications at California State University Sacramento. "I don't know that I would change his behavior, because he's representing his constituency, and he's been totally consistent in his position. But he's become everyone's worst nightmare."
Indeed, analysts say the mayor should be trying his best to keep out of the same-sex marriage spotlight - something that Newsom's handlers, and even the mayor himself, say he's been trying to do.