District 5 Diary: Gavin Newsom, gay marriage, and high-speed rail

From this morning's SF Chronicle:

Newsom’s campaign hopes the [above]ad reinforces the notion that Newsom has the “courage” to take on controversial issues like same-sex marriage, universal health care and gun control. The ad is part of the Newsom campaign’s current “seven-figure” advertising buy. This spot will start running in the Bay Area, then branch out into other markets.

Making same-sex marriage legal was/is good public policy, but Newsom's February, 2004, initiative on the issue as Mayor of San Francisco was disastrously timed in a presidential election year. His poorly-timed initiative surely helped re-elect President Bush (see Newsom lectures Obama on political timing!).

Newsom has also flip-flopped on the high-speed rail issue, which is important because it's the biggest, most expensive public works project in the country.

From the April 30 SF Chronicle:

While Newsom has become less enthusiastic about the project as the schedule has lengthened and the price tag has grown, he still wants the rail system built. Connecting the Central Valley to Silicon Valley could be a huge boost to the state’s economy, he says. Extending bullet trains to Los Angeles “is a question of resources,” but “if we get the first phase done, we can develop the technology and get the private sector involved” in a Southern California expansion.

This may be good demagoguery, talking about cost concerns while touting the project's potential benefits. But it's stupid intellectually, which won't be revealed until after Newsom is governor and is forced to face reality.

It also implies that Newsom doesn't really understand the overwhelming financial and engineering problems the project has always faced.

Why did the state abandon the original plan to first go to Southern California and then to San Francisco? Because it became obvious even to the High Speed Rail Authority that tunneling 36 miles under the San Gabriel and Tehachapi Mountains to get to L.A. was much too daunting a task.

But getting to San Francisco from the Central Valley via the Pacheco Pass will require more than 13 miles of tunnels, not to mention a 1.5 mile tunnel East of Gilroy and at least 1.6 miles of tunnel under San Francisco.