The Wrong Stuff

"Why do they say such things?"

SF Weekly — Seek out the political operatives who once worked closely with Newsom, and you’ll find that a number have soured on the mayor.

Ask them why, and you’ll be bombarded with his alleged character flaws. Among them: “thin-skinned,” “disloyal,” “friendless,” “joyless,” “Machiavellian,” “craven,” and “empty.”

One will tell you that Eric Jaye was “the best-paid babysitter in California.”

Several diagnose Newsom with an acute case of narcissism.

“He’s probably the worst mayor in modern history,” said Jack Davis, a strategist who has worked on the mayoral campaigns of Newsom, Willie Brown, and Frank Jordan. “I pity this poor state if lightning should strike and this cad becomes governor amidst the problems that the state has. He’d have a nervous breakdown. There’s no there there.”

Although there are also fervent supporters, dozens of interviews with City Hall staffers, strategists, and fundraisers yielded a surprising amount of disapproval.

Well-known consultants Jim Ross and Bob Brigham — who both worked on Newsom’s 2003 campaign — and 2007 campaign staffer David Latterman all have reservations.

“I’m concerned that his record and his temperament will not be fully vetted by the press,” Ross said.

Brigham was more direct. “I think Gavin would be a pretty awful governor,” he said, though he’s not too worried about it happening: “I don’t see any path to the nomination anymore.”