The Lincoln Log

In today’s seedy and sleazy world of politics, men of questionable repute are rewarded and heralded as heroes. Good, honest men, who try to do what’s right for the people they work for, often get left in the dust. San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom is trying to buck that trend, by standing up for the values his Democratic party was based on. He told me that he believes the Democrats didn’t distinguish themselves enough from the Republicans in the Presidential election and they didn’t present a positive alternative agenda, costing John Kerry the White House.

“I don’t want to be part of the ‘me-too’ party,” Newsom says, hinting at how he feels about the Democratic Party inching increasingly closer to the right. “America is always going to choose Strong and Wrong over Weak and Right. We need to reach out to the middle class, the working poor, and promote real family values.”

The mayor put his own words into action when he legalized gay marriage in the city and county of San Francisco in early 2004. He was the first mayor to do this, and it caused controversy across the country. Newsom defends himself against the pundits who have said that his doing so may have lost John Kerry the presidency, mentioning that the Senator was himself against gay marriage.

“I have not regretted my actions for a single second. I think it’s too bad that we are ahead of our times, but I absolutely believe that it was the right thing to do, the moral thing to do, and I’m proud of my principled stance.”

“The Democrats need to recognize their own values. This is a civil rights issue.” Newsom went on to say that the city had not even begun to fight for the legalization of gay marriages and that the case would be brought before lower courts and eventually he California Supreme Court sometime in early 2005.

Newsom’s emphasis on reaching out to the people made me think about the reason the mayor had visited Lincoln this September, when I first had a chance to ask him to meet with me for this interview. I asked him what he had hoped to accomplish by visiting the school in the wake of Lincoln senior Maxina Danner’s death.

“I wanted to make a statement, that the students are not alone,” he said. “I wanted to show that the city cares, and that her life mattered. I wanted to offer support, and address the needs of the school. We were ready to provide them with all the resources needed to get through a difficult situation.”

The mayor purposefully gave his State of the City address this year at Mission High School after one of their students was murdered. Newsom says he regretted not showing up earlier after that death, because of the problems faced by the school after that event. He did not want to “make the same mistake” of arriving too late to help at Lincoln.

Newsom believes he is lucky to come as far as he has. He was a self-described “below- average” student due to dyslexia. He kept up his selfesteem and morale by playing sports. He participated in basketball and baseball, where he played first base and received a scholarship to Santa Clara University. He then went on to engage in several business ventures of varying success.

“I don’t need a title in front of my name to feel good about myself,” says Newsom. “I like to try new things and I want to make a difference.”

When I sat down in the mayor’s office to conduct this interview, I saw firsthand that he is trying to reach out on a more personal level to the people of San Francisco. His enormous, imposing mahogany desk sits in the center of the office in front of a fifty square-foot mirror, a monument to the ego that can come with the authority of a power position. The mayor sat in a chair to the side of his desk, exposing himself and all of his body language. His sleeves were rolled up and, when asked what advice he might have for a class of graduating seniors, he was relaxed enough to let out a few of the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) banned words.

“Everyone makes mistakes,” he said. “I’ve fucked up before. The key to success is failure. Learn from your mistakes, don’t repeat them. I recommend that you never take a job for what it pays, but for what you can learn. I think that the biggest risk is not taking risks.” He ended the interview by quoting the artist Michelangelo. “It is better to aim too high and miss it than to aim too low and reach it. I really believe that, and I couldn’t have said it better.”