The Gavin Newsom Show came to the capital on Friday, and the 41-year-old San Francisco mayor and would-be gubernatorial candidate energetically seized the day.
He interviewed new Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson for his Bay Area "Green 960 AM" radio program.
He shared the spotlight with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in touting a "Bank on California" partnership to help low-income families build savings.
And he worked to expand his profile beyond a singular image: his public pillorying in the campaign that passed Proposition 8 last month.
Newsom's exploratory campaign team hopes Californians will come to know him as a leader who helped San Francisco residents get universal health care, won voter approval for a $2 billion waterfront redevelopment and also stood firmly on the side of civil rights and same-sex unions.
But detractors say he may be hard-pressed to overcome the image of the man lambasted in a $40 million-plus campaign that passed the Proposition 8 gay marriage ban.
The blitz of Yes on 8 commercials seized on Newsom celebrating a May California Supreme Court ruling legalizing gay marriage by shouting out in a sing-song voice: "This door is wide open now! It's going to happen – whether you like it or not!"
Political pundits argue over whether the commercials and approval of the same-sex marriage ban will enhance Newsom's chances in a Democratic gubernatorial primary, deflate his hopes in a general election or perhaps shut the door on his political prospects altogether.
Some of Newsom's staunchest backers wonder whether the mayor's exuberance backfired by helping pass the gay marriage ban.
A liberal blogger and journalist, Mickey Kaus, coined a new political term – "the Newsom Rule." It holds that politicians who publicly gloat over victories are destined to lose.
Veteran Democratic strategist Darry Sragow said, "I think the pretty broadly held assumption among political professionals is that little snippet certainly put a dent in Gavin Newsom's political future."
Even Newsom – who stirred legal and political battles over gay marriage by opening San Francisco City Hall for same-sex weddings in 2004 – ponders whether Californians will view him as anything more than a single-issue candidate.
"That's a very good question," he said in an interview. "It will be answered in short order."
He called the Yes on 8 campaign's use of his words out of context and "an unbelievably frustrating thing." But he said he is proud of standing up for the rights of same-sex couples – even if it affects his gubernatorial aspirations.
"I'd rather lose an election than lose my connection to my conscience," he said.
Newsom said he hopes Californians will see him through a broader lens as a leader, from promoting economic development to fighting global warming.
He recently delivered his State of the City speech in 10 installments on the YouTube Internet site. His presentations expounded on plans to close a $500 million budget deficit, help seniors and the homeless, and reshape San Francisco with green buildings, urban gardens, new housing and a transit center billed as the Grand Central Station of the West.
Newsom said the YouTube speeches – 7 1/2 hours in total – were partly inspired by the aftermath of Proposition 8 and "the appropriate critique that I am identified as a single-issue candidate."
He said he wants California voters to see him as a pro-business, "hard-headed pragmatist – not an ideologue." His campaign team is preparing to sell him as competent, tested, new generation candidate for California.
"By the time the campaign clicks in, the people of California will learn a lot more about Gavin Newsom than they saw in the Yes on 8 ads," said Garry South, a senior advisor. "If you demonstrate to voters that you have been a successful mayor of one of the hardest cities to govern in America, that's a very good story to tell."
But gay marriage will remain "the one issue that sets him apart," said Dan Schnur, a former Republican strategist and current director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at the University of Southern California.
Call Peter Hecht, Bee Capitol Bureau, (916) 326-5539.
