Gavin Newsom on the edge
As mayor and as lieutenant governor, Gavin Newsom has been unafraid to take risks on controversial issues:
SAME-SEX MARRIAGE
When: February 2004 What: The mayor ordered the county clerk to issue marriage licenses to samesex couples in open defiance of state law.
Backdrop: The California Supreme Court halted the process within a month, and voided the nearly 4,000 marriages that were recorded. The S.F. rebellion heightened the national attention on the issue; voters in 13 states passed constitutional bans on same-marriage, which helped boost President George W. Bush’s reelection campaign.
His quote: “I do not believe it’s appropriate for me, as mayor of San Francisco, to discriminate against people ... and if that means my political career ends, so be it.”
In contrast: Sen. Dianne Feinstein, DCalif., said after the 2004 election that the mayor’s action was “too much, too fast, too soon.” Openly gay Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., called it a mistake that provoked fears and “created a sense there was chaos.”
MARIJUANA
When: October 2013 What: Announced his full support for the idea of legalizing marijuana for recreational use by adults. He put together a 16-member panel of medical, legal, political and law enforcement experts to determine the best way to achieve it in a November 2016 ballot initiative.
Backdrop: A 2012 measure to legalize marijuana, Prop. 19, had been defeated. Other statewide officeholders, Democrats all, avoided the issue.
His quote: “We’ve been sitting here most of my life — literally and not just figuratively — fighting this failed war on marijuana, and the results are pretty overwhelming. ... I’m proudly now asserting a point of view that I’ve had, candidly, for years and didn’t have the courage at the time to express it.”
In contrast: Gov. Jerry Brown scoffed at the idea: “How many people can get stoned and still have a great state or a great nation?” Attorney General Kamala Harris has been decidedly circumspect, saying she had “no moral objection” to legalizing recreational marijuana, but has stopped short of endorsing the idea.