Newsom helped re-elect Bush in 2004

Michelle Goldberg did Governor Newsom a favor by not mentioning his name when she wrote the other day about one of his famous fuck-ups, his gay marriage initiative as Mayor of San Francisco:

Reporting from Ohio mega-churches and right-wing rallies[in 2004], I could see that many conservatives were motivated by the specter of gay marriage, which had been recognized in Massachusetts a few months earlier. In the election, 11 states including Ohio — including Oregon — passed ballot initiatives against same-sex marriage. Postelection surveys showed that “moral values” beat out issues like Iraq and the economy as voters’ chief concern...

As I look back from 2020, two things seem obvious to me. L.G.B.T.Q. activists had justice on their side, even if the campaign for marriage equality caused a terrifying backlash before it triumphed. 

At the same time, it’s understandable why Democratic politicians like Barack Obama publicly opposed same-sex marriage in 2008, since to do otherwise risked producing permanent right-wing rule. Good policy and good politics are not the same thing.

Well, yes. The gay marriage "backlash" was crucial in George W. Bush's defeat of John Kerry in 2004 as some Democrats said at the time. (Gavin Newsom helped elect President Bush.)

Goldberg's column was about unifying the Democratic Party, which is presumably why she was reluctant to name Newsom in her revisit to that 2004 fiasco. Did she think her readers wouldn't remember?

Newsom couldn't wait until the end of the year in 2004 to make his gay marriage initiative, and as Governor of California he apparently wants even easy decisions to seem momentous: 

There is no shortage of Golden State Democrats for Newsom to pick from, and he didn't seem to relish the task ahead of him. "This is not something that I wish even on my worst enemy, because you create enemies in this process, you know, not just friends," said Newsom. "And it's a vexing decision. It's a challenging one."

Bullshit. Newsom's comment suggests that this easy decision is about him, not who he picks to replace Senator Harris.

See also Newsom grabs another headline, and Newsom, legislators face anger over party and Hawaii trip. Maybe Newsom is just dumb.