For those of you who haven't been following the San Francisco mayoral race, here's a quick summary: next month there is a runoff between two candidates, Gavin Newsom and Matt Gonzalez. Newsom is the anointed successor of term-limited Mayor Willie Brown, and the representative of the entrenched Democratic machine which has a firm grip on ultra-liberal San Francisco. The challenger, County Supervisor Gonzalez, is a member of the Green party, although county supervisor and mayor are both non-partisan offices in California.
Although Newsom had a commanding lead in the first election, it appears that Gonzalez is the preferred candidate of nearly everyone who didn't vote for Newsom in the primary. The race is now too close for comfort, so Newsom and the Democratic power establishment are pulling out the big guns. Of course they're bringing out big-name Democrats to warn San Franciscans against electing a Green, but this doesn't appear to be enough.
Newsom and Brown's latest dirty trick rings familiar to those who follow national politics: they're accusing Gonzalez of racism. Their evidence? Gonzalez has voted against the appointment of some blacks to various city offices. And his opponents aren't being subtle: Brown told a group of black ministers that Gonzalez has "some kind of defect in his head that makes him believe African Americans aren't qualified," while Newsom stated more delicately that the appointees opposed by Gonzales have "disproportionately come from the minority community."
Sounds familiar, doesn't it? And the obvious answers to this charge, namely that Gonzalez opposed the nominees because they were unqualified or appointed as political favors, are not making much traction. It seems that nobody will risk pointing out that Brown might have chosen minorities for his most audacious appointments so that they would be more difficult to oppose. It would look too much like an apology for racism.
When watching this drama unfold, my thoughts keep returning to next year's Congressional election. The Republicans have a fearsome cudgel in the Estrada fiasco, and there is absolutely no doubt that they'll pull it out if they fear for their security. We've seen how eager liberal Democrats are to make scurrilous accusations when he's up against the wall; the current generation of dirty-trick Republicans will surely make what's happening in San Francisco look like gentlemanly debate.
We should watch this race closely so that we will be prepared for the ugly fight awaiting us less than a year from now.