Sad story, best euphemism of the day.. (Newsom love affair)

Yes, I agree with you.

I read earlier today that her telling was part of a recovery program apology-to-whom-you've-hurt thing.

C. Nevius' column in the Chronicle gives his take on SF voters probable reactions -
Most seem to be willing to forgive.. LINK

So now I'm reading the local blog that is mentioned on that link. Hmmm.








Additionally, I see in an LA Times article on this LINK that his spokesman, Peter Ragone is a complete idiot..

clip -
The revelation came on the same day that the mayor's aggressive and seasoned spokesman, Peter Ragone, was fighting his own battles: A local investigative television team had reported that Ragone was posting hostile comments about Newsom's critics on a local blog under different names.

When confronted with the fact that the missives had been traced to his home computer, Ragone initially insisted that the poster, "John Nelson," was his best friend and often stayed at his home. He admitted later in the day that he, in fact, had posted the comments. But they, in part, reflected the views of his friend, Nelson.

Ragone also posted under the name "Bjorn", a person who doesn't exist. "Stupid, yes," Ragone said. "There are going to be guidelines established. I'm going to help put them together. The political blogosphere is a place where many people express their opinions in different ways. As a rule, I shouldn't be on the blogosphere and it was a mistake."
/end of clip

Idjit..

Right? Wrong?

Either way the counsellor in that Recovery Program changed at least three lives in drastic ways.

I tend to feel that the people who earned the guilt should carry the guilt and that there is a great deal to be said for "Kiss and keep your mouth shut".

Reading that Chronicle local blog was a tad illuminating re all the many ways people reacted; at least one poster did say there were a lot of rumors for months. Here's the Blog

I haven't read more about this yet this morning, except that I see a headline that some in the gop expect this to affect Pelosi.


edit to add -
Ok, I just read the SF Chronicle article and it does mention affect on Pelosi -
This morning's SF Chronicle article about this HERE.

Deny, deny, deny, deny.

Omerta!

Keep your mouth shut.

If anything good came of this...my guess is the same "good" could have come without the revelation.

The mayor, by the way, is a scumbag for screwing a friend and collegue's wife.

Yeah, he is.

But also yeah on the 'kiss and keep your mouth shut'. I mean, what did she do?? Not just did she cheat on her husband, now she's basically ended the career he had and made him a laughing stock of the town.

Its humiliating enough if your wife cheats on you with your friend, but for it to be splashed on all the city's newspaper frontpages is..

And if she liked Newsom at all, he has also probably imploded career-wise, at least for further than mayor - If you read that earlier link to SFChron, you'll see this dalliance is national, and I think I've seen it since on BBC news. But this may have been going to become news anyway, given the gossip (from whom?) as a potential bomb in the future.

I don't know his level of skunkiness, precisely, but there is at least some layer of it, with stupidity over that.




On the other hand, I hate seeing people shot down over affairs. There is some element of 'these are two grownups', and they must have not cared about caution at the time.

I have a friend who worked for a hospital corporation with strict rules on not having relationships with (I forget who-all, since I've not worked in corporate life) but including sales reps. She did. She married him, very quietly, lest they both be fired. It's been about thirty years now.

People aren't owned - to me - even in marriage. But stupidity is usually king.

I gather this no-do-it-to-your-bud is a key man rule, which I'm generally for. It's been pretty key, though not a constant, in my observation of my girl-friends through life. This of course makes such an affair more piquant.

It was said to be short. Might have been very short.

None of the world's business, certainly including mine.

Given there was gossip, I posit another person splashing it to the news.

Of course, it's complicated in that she is involved in news... but I am guessing it wasn't her who brought it to the world at large.

You think he was going for something more than mayor? He's become a very popular mayor apparently, I dont think its gonna keep him from being re-elected...

He might have wanted to go for something bigger over time I guess, but the bold breaking-action thing he did demonstratively marrying gays would seem to make any national office unlikely..

Its funny that - he's mainly become famous for the gay marriage thing, I mean, outside SF, so if people heard of him I think the association is with "typical San Francisco liberal, way to the left". But I think the main reason he shot right from the starting blocks with the gay marriage thing was to protect his left flank and reassure the voters, who had been split in the elections practically half/half between him and.. the Green Party candidate.

Well, you know all that I think, perhaps others have forgotten. Newsom ran as a pragmatic, hands-on business-type centrist sort of Democrat - as, basically, the rightwing candidate in the match-up against Green Party candidate Gonzalez. Newsom spent 10 times as much in the campaign and had Clinton and Gore campaign for him, and still only eeked out Gonzalez 52% to 47%. This time round there doesnt seem to be a significant contender to his left, and until this he was cruising with approval rates in the seventies or something. Funny how things turn out eh?

Ah, this morning the CWNevius column backtracks on saying there was little reaction, and discusses the Man Code -
HERE

On the matter of higher office, I gather he was under consideration re a future gubernatorial run...

Quoting a section of a SF Chronicle article yesterday by Carla Marinucci -
LINK HERE


The strategists said that though Newsom has high approval ratings and so far faces no major competition in his re-election campaign, his admission of an affair with the wife of his close aide and good friend is likely to be lethal to his aspirations for higher office -- even in an age when voters are no longer shocked by sexual political scandal.

"This guy is no longer a credible candidate to be governor of California,'' said one of the Republican strategists. "It's an extraordinary good day for (Los Angeles Mayor) Antonio Villaraigosa and (former state Controller) Steve Westly," who are considered potential Democratic candidates for governor.

While voters might be generally unconcerned with the private life of a single man in office, Newsom's affair is likely to be perceived as a betrayal of a friend, which raises crucial questions of maturity, character, judgment and loyalty, the strategists said.

The potential impact could be greatest with men, who tend to forgive such dalliances more easily than women -- but are likely to be harsher in their judgments of Newsom because he double-crossed his best friend, several of the strategists said.

"That's the end; even in California, there are some things you can't get away with," one of the Democratic strategists said. "He might get re-elected as mayor of San Francisco, but any hope of being elected statewide is done."

The Democrat noted that the scandal came on the heels of headlines that have put an unflattering spotlight on Newsom's personal life -- from coverage of a messy divorce to public displays of affection and dalliances with a series of girlfriends, including a 19-year-old restaurant hostess, to sightings of the 39-year-old mayor drinking at bars and bistros across the city.

"He's got great marquee value; he's young enough to be around politics for another 30 years if he wanted," said a party strategist who has watched Newsom's rise. "But what's wrong with the guy?''

If those questions weren't tough enough, some political insiders said Newsom's affair has the potential to have ripple effects far beyond the Democratic bastion of San Francisco.

"The only person who gets hurt more than Gavin Newsom is (House Speaker) Nancy Pelosi," says Dan Schnur, a GOP strategist who was the spokesman for former Republican Gov. Pete Wilson.

As Fox News and other national cable outlets seized on the scandal Thursday, Schnur said the story will resonate among conservative talk outlets precisely because Pelosi "spent the last 30 days surrounding herself with every child on the Eastern seaboard to put to rest the discussion of 'San Francisco values.' So this is one more talking point for people who want to criticize her on her home turf."

Pelosi, who has known Newsom since he was a child, was in Williamsburg, Va., at a retreat for House Democrats on Thursday and was unavailable for comment. "Speaker Pelosi is saddened by this and is concerned for everyone involved and their families," said a statement from her spokesman Brendan Daly.

Sen. Barbara Boxer, questioned on the affair at a news conference in Washington, D.C., declined comment.

Democratic strategist Don Solem, a longtime city insider, agreed that "there will be attempts by bloggers and others" on the conservative talk circuit to fire up the values issue and use the mayor's affair as a political club. "But I don't think it connects to Pelosi as much as to 'San Francisco, that strange city,' " he said.

Indeed, San Francisco insiders are speculating about whether the mayor's heart is still in politics.

They cite an interview in The Chronicle recently in which Newsom, saying the intense public spotlight has taken a harsh toll, acknowledged thinking about not running for re-election. And in Davos, Switzerland, last week, he appeared to dismiss a future run for statewide office by noting that his position in support of same-sex marriage has made him a pariah to some party moderates.

Outside City Hall, where influential donors and backers can make or break a political future, there have been more signs of trouble. Local business leaders in recent weeks have been buzzing about the mayor's personal distractions; complaints that their calls are not being returned have become increasingly vocal around power lunch tables.

"If the business community is dissatisfied, if there are continuing high-profile problems with sports teams, with Muni,'' voters may conclude he is no longer up for the job, and "that's when he'll be in big trouble," said one of the strategists.

But top crisis-communications expert Chris Lehane -- who was White House spokesman for President Bill Clinton during the Monica Lewinsky scandal -- cautioned that it is premature to write political obituaries for Newsom, who has garnered rave notices in his short career.

Clinton, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Sen. Edward Kennedy and former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani -- now considered a leading contender for the Republican presidential nomination -- all survived sex scandals in their careers.

"The first 48 hours is critical in terms of containing (the story), and you recover over the long haul," Lehane said. "Assuming you properly apologize and show people you are contrite, the people will judge whether you do a good job day in and day out on decisions that affect the city."

But "it will require extra discipline and applying lessons learned -- and the recognition that you are going to be measuring progress in inches," Lehane said.

Unforgivable breach of Man Code

Yep, that is the CWNevius column...

Thanks Osso, for the extra information. Yes, a gubernatorial race seems out, at least for the next 5-10 years. And the writer is right, I can imagine its not so much because he had an affair with a married woman, but because it was his friend's wife, at that.

Here's why he's damaged.

From now on everytime he enters a room all of the men will be wondering if he is already screwing their wives, all of the women that he is not already screwing will be wondering if they can be next.

Joe(there will be long silences during the conversations)Nation

I haven't looked at the Chronicle local blog for a couple of days - I suppose it's quite the thick conglomeration by now. Perhaps instead of the Super Bowl...

Followup LAT article LINK