Word: newsom
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Newsom's decision has set off a nation-wide chain reaction that is putting public officials on the spot. President Bush declared himself "troubled," hinting that San Francisco's actions make him more likely to support a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger issued stern warnings to heed California law, which bars same-sex marriage. "It's time for the city to stop traveling down this dangerous path of ignoring the rule of law," he said...
Meanwhile, other civic leaders embraced Newsom's actions. Chicago Mayor Richard Daley said he would have "no problem" with Cook County issuing same-sex marriage licenses. Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson welcomed San Francisco's new policy. Victoria Dunlap, a Republican county clerk in New Mexico, issued licenses to 26 same-sex couples last Friday until the state attorney general shut her down...
Like the lives of the couples his decisions have changed, Newsom's political career has been irrevocably altered. He began it as the millionaire owner of the PlumpJack Cafe and Winery, the son of a local judge, and the husband of former lingerie model turned CNN and Court TV commentator Kimberly Guilfoyle Newsom. At 36 he is the youngest Bay Area mayor since the Gold Rush era. Now, less than 50 days into his tenure, the slick-haired, smooth-talking politician has become both poster boy and punching bag on the hot-button issue of gay marriage. Many Democrats...
Before they elected him by a narrow margin over his Green Party opponent last December, San Franciscans thought they had Newsom figured out. He was a Clintonian New Democrat, the party establishment's choice to replace outgoing Mayor Willie Brown. The issue Newsom was best known for was a favorite with conservatives: he wanted to slash welfare payments to the homeless in return for more city housing. During a contentious campaign, Newsom voiced enthusiasm for same-sex marriage--but that is hardly an unusual platform in America's capital of gay culture. "Every San Francisco politician supports it, and then...
...Newsom did not arrive at city hall spoiling for a fight on gay marriage. He started out by making some symbolic appointments--the city's first female fire chief, the first female police chief, the first openly gay chief of staff. He cut his own pay in the face of an estimated $330 million budget deficit. He had a 63% favorability rating (which has risen barely 3% since the gay marriages began). "He had already ingratiated himself a little with liberals," says San Francisco pollster David Binder. "Politically, he didn't need to do any more...