Gavin Newsom's Impressive Town Hall in Sacramento

In Sacramento yesterday, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, with grace and clarity, laid out his vision for California and the reasons why he is running for governor. To a packed town hall meeting at the city's main library filled with people of all ages and backgrounds, Newsom gave a masterful performance similar in style and content to what we've grown accustomed to seeing Barack Obama accomplish in that type of intimate setting. Newsom offered up an impressive array of innovative new ideas about how to solve some of the most vexing problems facing the state including our perennial budget crisis and the deadening effects of the two-thirds requirement that hands over de facto power to a retrograde Republican minority. Whatever the topic he addressed -- educating California's children, saving California's environment, alleviating poverty, or promoting equality -- he connected pragmatic policy solutions with the underlying values that inform his views. Mayor Newsom showed he is the right gubernatorial candidate to lead California in the 21st Century.

One point Newsom made that stood out to me was that even as bad as things have gotten under Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Republicans a Democrat is not destined to have a free ride into the Governor's office in 2010. His Republican opponent will most likely be a billionaire, and the state's voters have a tendency to elect Republican governors: George Deukmejian for two terms, Pete Wilson for two terms, and Schwarzenegger for two terms, (with only a Democratic interregnum in between). His bid for governor will not be easy and Newsom showed that he holds no illusions about what a difficult campaign he faces.

Therefore he believes that his only chance for success will come from building a grassroots social movement. He knows he cannot simply rely on the traditional organizations tied to the state's Democratic Party to win. That is why he has held some twenty-nine town hall meetings across the state to reach out directly to voters and to build a new organization with web-based efficiency. He says he hears the same desires for change and new thinking about the state's future coming from Californians in both liberal and conservative areas he visits.

Newsom outlined pragmatic yet inventive solutions and illustrated some of the "best practices" he has adopted as San Francisco mayor. He has built bridges between the public sector and private sector for directing resources from local institutions, including hospitals, colleges, non-profit organizations, and businesses, to tackle urban social problems. Regarding homelessness his administration brought services to where the people are: In the streets. He networked with the Department of Motor Vehicles to help homeless people attain identification cards and brought in FedEx to use its database to assist homeless people in contacting relatives with whom they have lost touch. He also pointed out how irrational it is to have a state that produces most of the world's fresh produce while Californians living in nearby cities import their food from as far as 1400 miles away. We should be eating fruits and vegetables that are grown right here in our state. He faced some ridicule when he created a vegetable garden near City Hall but the criticisms stopped when Michelle Obama did the same thing outside the White House.

Newsom is not afraid to admit he has made some mistakes in the past and he offered a mea culpa of sorts about not being "humble" when he uttered some incendiary things during the Proposition 8 conflict. He hit the issue head on and with honesty. He promises to respect the views of those who oppose gay marriage but was clear to point out that we live in a Constitutional democracy. He gave an impassioned analysis of the 1967 Loving v. Virginia Supreme Court case that struck down bans on interracial marriage. He reminded us that polls at the time showed that 70 percent of Americans agreed with keeping interracial marriage illegal. Sometimes, he said, the courts have a duty to step in and protect the minority from the tyranny of the majority.

All in all, Mayor Newsom is the most exciting thing to happen to California politics in years. He has started his campaign early, enlisted the help of an army of energetic young people who represent the future of the state, and promises to lift California out of the morass the deadening hands of the Republicans have submerged us in.

Follow Joseph A. Palermo on Twitter: www.twitter.com/peeweethemonste

Comments

[Winning09]

Incidentally, if you lived in California in the 1990s, or looked "back" that far in political history, you would know that Jerry Brown could have been mayor of San Francisco where he lived but chose to be mayor of Oakland which had the biggest challenges.

It's easy to be a progressive in San Francisco. It has every advantage in the world. And still Newsom isn't a good mayor, gallivanting around the world at taxpayer expense.

[Joseph A. Palermo - Huffpost Blogger]

Glad people are thinking about the next governor, how many of you voted for Arnold? That really worked out well didn't it? Jerry Brown might be the nominee, the Left hates him though, ho hum.

[Winning09]

The "Left" doesn't "hate" Jerry Brown, the frontrunner you "forgot" to mention. You can't cite one poll to back up that claim.

Since so much of your work is anti-Schwa­rzenegger, here's what you should know, especially since you teach in Sacramento.

Newsom's chief strategist Garry South works for the man who ran Schwarzenegger's campaign and his transition team as he took over the governorship.

[Joseph A. Palermo - Huffpost Blogger]

Winning, ask people in Oakland what they think of Brown. We'll have another product of the useless Calif Democratic Party establishment, another Gray Davis clone, Steinberg and Bass, willing to give away the store to the GOP -- ho hum, watch a low turn out in the general and the Republicans pull a rabbit out of a hat, like they always do, i.e. Arnold, to beat Brown who has a lot of baggage and is 72 years old -- hum drum race if he's the one. So what if Newsom uses Arnold's political people, they know how to win elections better than the CA dems do -- also, Arnold appointed Susan Kennedy, a Dem, did that change a damn thing?

[Winning09]

HuffPost's Pick

Really amazing.

You "forgot" to even mention the real next Governor of California: Jerry Brown. Some analysis!

Newsom isn't going to be the governor because he can't beat Brown in the Democratic primary. And if Brown didn't run, Newsom would still have trouble winning, because he has a net negative favorable rating in California. You didn't mention that, either.

You also didn't mention that Newsom's campaign is run by a corporate lobbyist who worked for Joe Lieberman.

You didn't mention that Newsom's campaign and City Hall staff both blew up last month.

You didn't mention that Brown has eight times as much money raised as Newsom.

You didn't mention that Newsom is taking credit for San Francisco programs he actually opposed.

And you didn't mention that Prop 8 passed because Newsom blew it last year.

Aside from that, it's a great article.

[allenosuno]

I bet you will see a flood of necon bloggers try to savage Gavin Newsome. We live in a state filled with morons who are happy to give loopholes to mega corporations and let big oil pay NO severance tax to pull oil out of our state, but this same sea of morons turns around and repeats GOP mantras like "no new taxes" and "the state needs to live within its means' which are codes for "balance the budget on the backs of kids, elderly, sick and working people". So you can bet they will light into Gavin Newsome just the way they are lighting into President Obama with all their looney-tune fringe-nut anger and are saying a big "NO" to rational healthcare reform. I seem to feel bombarded with these morons everywhere on TV, on the news blogs...ev­erywhere..­.and they basically say "NO" to reason, fairness and even their own best interests and "YES" to Republican Governors, neocon radio hate jocks and you name it panoply of just plain lying and stupid beliefs they are aggressive to go to town hall meetings with and express their rage. I applaud Mr. Newsome, will support him, but good luck in a state filled with morons like ours.

[cloudminder]

Gavin Newsom is not going to get my vote

and neither is Jerry Brown

unless and until they are able to talk about policies they will put in place for better managing the University of California system- they will appoint regents to UC if they become governor.

here on this blogspot are a list of recent scandals - expensive scandals at UC -- the result of mismanagement:

http://cloudminder.blogspot.com/

[realpolitic]

As a newcomer to San Francisco, where Newsom is mayor, I can say it is a very scenic city. It has a beautiful coastline and enchanting hills. However, the homeless problem is mostly out of control. They seem provided for by the city and are not overly aggressive, but in such numbers in must be very intimidating for tourists and even residents. The Tenderloin area near downtown often reeks of urine. That the problem seems very concentrated seems easier to arrive at some solution. Perhaps the city should build a campus for the homeless. The city will continue to attract homeless and needy people because of the beautiful climate where it is not so difficult to live outside. Of course, I would not describe this group as anything but unfortunate, but many seem to have drug habits or mental problems. Often drugs are used openly on the streets. To keep its reputation as one of the most beautiful cities in America, I think the city should do much more to keep streets clean, pick up litter, and enforce low level crimes like open drug use in the streets. It will not lose its reputation as a free thinking city.

[Bobzmcishl]

Newsom has some good ideas but he hasn't dealt effectively with the homeless problem. San Francisco has the worst homeless problem of any major U.S. city. It is difficult to walk one block in downtown SF without being panhandled. San Francisco also has a very ineffective police department with a huge backlog of unsolved homicides. Newsom is on the right side of the gay marriage issue, climate change, and the greening of America. He has some personal baggage too and a personna that can be grating - he can sometimes get too full of himself, and he talks too much. I think he will have real problems in Southern California and in the valley sections of the state. Even though California is a blue state there is stil enough red to give him problems. And California seems to get caught up in celebrity worship so we elect people like Reagan and Arnold.

[realpolitic]

The homeless problem is San Francisco is overwhelming and the city may eventually lose tourist dollars because of the number of needy.

[johnie2xs]

Maybe, with Newsom, California could regain it's gold standard status as a place of excellent educational opportunities, and social leadership. Good Luck.