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Add one part satire to two parts sincerity. Sprinkle on a couple of rants. Stir liberally.
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Daily Blah FAQ
Who are you?
I'm the newly-appointed Future editor at Business 2.0 and the former San Francisco correspondent for Time Magazine.
Wow, so does this mean everything you write reflects Time Inc's opinion? Or do you perhaps have some sort of standard disclaimer to the effect that it doesn't?
Naturally, the opinions contained in this blog are not those of my employers. In fact, some opinions may be the polar opposite of my employers. Some may be the same, for all I know. Hey, it's not like I ask my employers their opinions about everything in the news, okay? Let's just say that if this were a Venn diagram with one circle marked "my opinions" and the other one marked "my employers' opinions", there would doubtless be some overlap. But neither I nor my employers are able to pinpoint exactly where that overlap is.
What is this Daily Blah thing?
An experiment for a column I wrote about blogging back in December 2001. All these years later, I haven't been able to kick the habit.
If it's called Daily Blah, how come you don't ... hey, wait, you're writing every day!
See? Told you I'd try harder.
Mister, you talk funny. Are you one of them furrners?
Why yes I am, as it happens. I was born, raised and educated in Great Britain. I've been living in the U.S. since 1996 and identify as British.
I say, old chap, you forgot the "u" in "colour."
No I didn't. I may identify as British, but I am also an American journalist writing for an American audience about mostly American issues. These two different sides of me are a constant source of tension. Nevertheless, Daily Blah will adhere to American English grammar and spelling.
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Daily Blah for... Thursday, December 11, 2003
The New Guy
What a difference a day makes. Now the San Francisco Chronicle's front page is touting Newsom as if he's the next Democratic President: "he's got a million dollars' worth of promise," says one strategist. And yet inside, the Chronicle also points out that Newsom would not have won if it had been a straight fight at the voting booth. He won because of absentee ballots; specifically, Republican absentee ballots. This is interesting, I think, to see Republicans hold their noses and vote for someone who favors gay marriage, abortion on demand, medical marijuana and subsidizing transgender operations for city workers -- simply because they dislike the Green guy more. Would that work on a national scale, I wonder? Come back Ralph Nader, all is forgiven.
Anyway, I know I promised the director's cut of that Time piece on the Newsom-Gonzalez race. That, however, has been lost to history. In its place, I present some choice morsels from my Newsom interview a couple of weeks ago. Here's some of what the rising star of the Democratic party had to say:
There's no question the appetite in California is for change. Schwarzenegger ran against the insiders, the establishment, Sacramento. This resonated with the 18-34 year-old demographic. Gonzalez is running in a very similar way. He's president of the board, already the most powerful Green in America, and sits there as if he's anti-incumbent. He's running on anti-establishment. He's anti-everything, which is great, and he's pro-everything which is pure. Heck, I didn't think I could get away with that. That's an easy campaign. Of course I'm against corruption. Who's pro-corruption? That's his grassroots effort. They're believing. That's great. Time to believe again. But it's also about governing. You can't govern a city from an ideological perch. You want immediate steps and long-term solutions; not one or the other.
I feel awkward; I'm 36, and I'm now the establishment. It's strange. In any other context, any other major urban center in America, I'd be the fresh face. I'm more progressive than anyone could imagine. In any other city I would be considered an extreme liberal, with the exception of homelessness, where I'm trying to do something about 160 deaths a year, rather than explaining it away. People said I backed 'Care Not Cash' to advance myself politically. But in this town, you do not touch the issue of homelessness without getting scarred. Permanantly scarred. You see it over and over again. If you're a smart politician, you make an election day promise and don't take the risk.
I was the only elected official who would meet with Gonzalez back when he talked about running for DA. I was very impressed; he's very bright, no question. When he ran for Supervisor, I watched this anti-establishment strategy. He said he didn't want the job, then he said okay. This year he said 'I don't want to run for mayor', then says 'okay, you can have me' five minutes before the filing deadline. It's not contrived, but if you can just be the guy who doesn't want it, you appear reticent, so people have to push you.
It's funny how the two of us have been characterized. Even down to the hair. His hair is 'anti-establishment', mine's 'slick'. I know the Getty family, therefore I'm 'rich.' I have to keep reminding people: It's the Gettys, not the Gottis. They've contributed $500 each, $2,000 from the family as a whole. That's it. Out of 13,000 contributions to my campaign. My relationship with the family is very strong; I've grown up with them; they're one of 99 investors in my businesses. I can assure you, I know not of a political machine in this city, even though I've been claimed to be a part of it.
I've had my body burned in effigy on several occasions. I was custard-pied five years ago; I thought that was cute. My home spray-painted, my volunteers threatened. We've received death threats. I had to change my home phone number. My home address was posted all over town. Win or loose, we're out of that house. I can't wait. In two weeks, we're putting it on the market. It's been nine months of battery. Not seeing my wife, not having any personal life, that's not a great life. You do it because you do want to contribute, you do it because you care about people. I couldn't go to bed at night if I was the person they claimed me to be. I would never do that to my opponent. There's a different standard for them, an anti-establishment standard.
I got spat on the other day. That's a first. But I will not allow them to make me hate them. They cannot win because I won't ever shut the door on them. You watch my transition -- the first people I'll meet with will be my biggest critics and opponents.
The demographics of this country suggest party at national level is really at risk. You loose the South, you're out of the game. You need more Clintonesque policies, more triangulation. You can localize this party at peril of national disintegration, or you can work on a national level and watch local politicians change with green politicians ascending. You loose at both ends. I don't know the quick and easy answer.
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