I thought it was thought provoking

It's quite apparent that Gavin Newsom ran for Mayor with the goal of shaking things up in San Francisco. Regardless of his motive, the issuing of licenses to gay couples was in direct violation of California state law. His determination to fight for equal rights for gays in this country is admirable, but it seems he is more interested in that than in running the city. As of now, he hasn't done anything of consequence as mayor, probably because he is more interested in pushing the gay marriage issue. A city mayor is supposed to govern, not parade around as a social advocate.

A HERO!

Gavin will win! The Yellow party today announced it's support for The Gonz because of his radical and cost effective methods of making San Francisco a cleaner place to live. http://f2.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/gonzogonzogogogo/m y_photos

Gavin would be good for continuing the status-quo and would follow the steps of his benefactor Willy Brown such as Preferential treatment for some of his closest contributores. Yea, in addition Gavin will continue the trend with Alliotto in a new alianze whose objective is to get as much control for business contracts as they can posible creating a God Father like organization amongs them, you know that time of dubious loyalty for the exchange of votes and suport against free running businness contracts for a few powerful friends!.

It's clear that he is being backed and supported by the Willie Brown Machine...I'm done with Big Boss intimidation.

Gavin Newsom's record as a Supervisor is distinctly uninspiring, his war on the homeless unconscionable. San Francisco deserves better.

A Republican in disguise!

This guy has the backing of the Republican party but says he is a progressive Democratic candidate.

He has voted consistently with landlords and businesses and seems to hate the lower middle class and in particular the down and out. Oh yeah, his plumpjack wine is like gasoline. A caustic substance in the throat. Disastrous for San Fransiscans, both wine lovers and non millionaires.

Doesn't ride MUNI to work.

The solution to the poor in San Francisco is to decrease their numbers, but there are two ways of doing it. There's Gavin Newsom's method, where you drive the homeless and poor out of San Francisco by reducing affordable housing, rehab services, and subsidies; or there's Matt Gonzalez's method, where you improve housing, rehab services, and subsidies, to help the homeless and the poor rise into the middle class. I'll glady support Gonzalez in his efforts to improve the lot of those in San Francisco who cannot make ends meet.

Gavin is too dialed into the San Francisco political establishment; ie the Democrat party leadership. Regrettably, Gavin is trying to ride into City Hall on the backs of the homeless. Sans his political connections, Gavin would just be another thirty something guy in the local scene. After eight years of Mayor Willie Brown, San Francisco may well opt for a change of scenery at City Hall, accented by the colour Green.

Gavin is evil and should be destroyed. Spoiled bratt syndrome. Mothers don't let your babies grow up to be Marina boys...........

He promises this, he promises that. However, he is not the cat in the hat. Does he care for those in need or is his sole purpose to fulfill his greed? It's now a crime to beg in our fair city because of Gruesome who knows NOTHING of pity! But now he has Angela as his vice mayor. He must be convinced he has bribed all the tax payers!!

Sleazy, business as usual, not too bright

Face it: a lot of people voted for Gavin because he comes closest to running the homeless bums out of town. Now he sucks up to Angela? Whew!

Newsom for ultimate asshole

Gavin Newsom is a demagogue. He takes his strategy straight out of Mein Kampf: targeting an unpopular segment of society for quick political gain and media notoriety. What's puzzling is that for a person who has a Judge for a father, why does he only have a Bachelor's degree in Poly Sci? I want to know his GPA and SAT scores. His resume is very short on actual achievement (notice he doesn't mention his education in the voter's handbook?). While Matt Gonzalez was busy studying Law at Stanford, Gavin was busy installing a tanning booth in his dorm room at Santa Clara University. Sure, he owns businesses, but they were backed by the deep pockets of Gordon and Billy Getty. Sure he has political experience, but he was appointed and not elected to Parking Commission and the SF Board of Supervisors. The choice is obvious.

Gavin Newsom is a 'gruesom niusance' to our city. He is on the side of big business, not the people of San Francisco. He is a previleged rich boy who will destroy our city with his selfish and reactionary politics. We are a progressive city and need a progressive candidate, not another Brown or Bush or Shwazzenegger!

Go to work for the Getty's and leave the running of our city to someone who cares and is not after cash.

Just what we don't need, another too slick fast-talking politician with his hands in all the big business pockets. Let's face it, this one is just another pretty rich boy using millions of big business dollars to roll his way into office. Why don't we try another way? Let's break out of our staid Democratic partisan no-thought voting. Matt Gonzalez is a sincere, honest, caring politician who actually stands for what he believes in.

What amazes me, though, is how ignorant so many people (non-Gavin Supporters) are with regard to who Gavin is and how he became a success. He was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth. As a matter of fact, he has probably worked harder to be a success than all of us. Do your research. Unfortunatley, it seems that the non-Gavin supporters are just jealous of his success and have chosen to vote against his perceived persona and not who he stands for. Gavin is the ONLY candidate who is qualified to win. Although Gonzalez is probably smart, he would be the WORST thing for San Franciso - not to mention small business and the economy.

He changes his opinion on positions constantly. He ducked out on controversial board of supervisor votes (and not just because of conflict of interest issues regarding his wine stores). He owes political favors to the Getty's and his other wealthy supporters. He supported all of Brown's appointments of inexperienced friends and political backers to city positions. He doesnt support renters; this based on his entire voting record as a supervisor. He only seems to support owners from what I can tell (perhaps even more unbalanced than Brown). He has an unprofessional bratty temper. He's even seems to be less vocal about fiscal responsibility than Gonzalez. In a lot of ways he's seems to belong in the Republican Party. Not a bad thing, but not really the San Francisco styled moderate that the city deserves. Really, look at his entire voting record as a supervisor. He really seems too conservative for SF. He seems to be real skilled at deceptive campaigns that hide important issues behind homeless issues. Willie Brown was decent aside from his corrupt appointments and favors for friends for political backers. Newsom on the other hand seems more like a dishonest conservative that wants to chase the homeless into the surrounding cities and towns of the Bay Area.

Newsom is a good example of politics gone wrong. He wants the glory of the job, but he cares nothing for the people. He steals his competitors platforms and ideas because he stands for nothing. No Newsom for Mayor.

This man is not only in bed with downtown corporate interests, he is the bastard love child of Mayor Brown & the above-mentioned.

Don't use SF as a stepping stone on the way to your little white house dream.

Pretty Boy Politician who is against the homeless population of SF receiving any handouts, yet, would he be where he is at today if it weren't for all of the handouts that he has received? Would he be a partner in numerous businesses if it weren't for the privilege he was born into and his friends in high places? I think that it was SICK that he used the deaths of 169 homeless folks to pass his mean-spirited campaign against the homeless. I don't trust this elephant in jack-ass clothing at all!

Newsom is the only one that can pull San Francisco out the hole it's in. Newsom sees the big picture and looks out for the best interest of all San Francian's not just the a select few. With Newsom as mayor there's hope for change. With the other guy - it will be the same ole same. Just worse. Vote for Gavin !! if you care about San Francisco and it's future.

It's frightening to think of this rich boy with his corporate backing taking over.

A suit. Sort of a Gray Davis, without the personality. Another Clintonoid "new Democrat" without a moral center, and so will probably be caught unable to keep his pecker in his pocket if his wife puts on a few ounces.

After seeing Newsom speak live for the first time, I stand by my four star rating. While he does come off as kind of a boy wonder cartoon character, with his slicked back hair, (former) lingerie model wife, and expensive suits, I think that the way he is being demonised by the far left is despicable. The far left's portrayal of Care not Cash as being a shameless exploitation of those who can't defend themselves is unfair, overly dramatic, and shamelessly political. Nobody can tell me that the cash based system that is in place now is working. No one can tell me that aggressive panhandling is not a problem. No one can tell me that quality of life of many San Franciscans is not going down due to the extraordinary number of people living on our streets. I agree that there is the potential of abuse of Care not Cash, but that potential lies in its implementation, and not in the idea itself. In terms of economy, Newsom's point that unless we make ourselves more business friendly, there won't be any wealth left to redistribute was also a powerful one - and the fact that he is even talking about wealth distribution should reassure those that are believing the hype about him being some right wing wacko. San Francisco's unemployment rate is among the highest in the country. Many of my friends have moved away, unable to find work. The fact that Newsom has raised a lot of campaign money does not in itself make him corrupt and prone to cronyism. While I don't get the same unflinching commitment to ethics from Newsom that I get from Matt Gonzalez, I think he would be a step up from Willie Brown in terms of the pay to play mentality. Of all the candidates, Newsom is the most polished, the most confident, and would clearly be considered the most business friendly. In my mind, this last point may be the deal clincher - a Newsom mayorship would be good for the business climate of San Francisco , would bring more jobs and more business taxes to fund programs.

Lots of people don't vote because they feel the candidates don't care about them, don't understand their everyday concerns, and care more about their own political livelihood than the public welfare. Gavin Newsom could very well be the poster boy for this viewpoint. Put simply, Newsom has no soul. He's been given opportunities all his life, but has decided to catapult his political career on the backs of the poorest, most disenfranchised individuals there are - the homeless. He will always choose to support big business over the average working stiff; he will always choose to maintain the status quo, rather than doing anything truly visionary, or requiring political courage. Newsom isn't a leader; he's a rich, well-packaged rubber stamp for big business.

No politician who uses the backs of the homeless and the least fortunate among us should ever lead anyone, anywhere, anytime. At least not one this hypocritical. His one main plus is he is a successful businessman, but he had to get handouts from his friendly neighborhood multi-millionaire friends, the Getty's, in order to be successful. He is spending over $900,000 on paid staff for his campaign. I just don't trust this jet-setting playboy to spend our tax money wisely?

Gavin Newsom is a sham. His "accomplishments?" He put a measure on the 2002 ballot that the courts ruled that voters didn't have the authority to decide -- something he should have known, and perhaps did -- and put another measure on this November's ballot that all legal authorities are saying will ultimately be held to be unconstitutional, and he knows that. He put through a “customer service” measure to regulate city departments that went absolutely nowhere, and his pledge to “fix” the troubled taxi industry only amounted to more giveaways to the taxi companies and higher fares for consumers. He has avidly encouraged a mean-spirited attitude in this city that is appallingly destructive and so unworthy of our traditions, our values and our goals. The fact that he uses the deaths of 169 homeless people (the great majority of whom died from causes NOT related to substance abuse) as campaign fodder for his anti-panhandling initiative is deplorable. His repeated absence from campaign debates, forums and candidate interviews shows an unwillingness to treat ALL San Franciscans with the respect they deserve and to deal openly with issues important to all segments of the city. His record, his campaign tactics and his demeanor have not earned him the job as our city’s top leader.

an amazing guy, with wonderful ideas. just met him recently, and I'm STILL impressed.

Terrible. Mean-spirited.

Smart, with new ideas, a real leader. Just what this city needs.

The best of the current crop of candidates, but hardly quallifileldl to be the leader of a major uS city.

Love his delicious wife!