Wednesday, July 22, 2009
The Chron's Newsom Derangement Syndrom.
Our handsome mayor graces the cover of the Chron today. The headline: "Is Gavin Newsom stretching the facts?" The link to the article from the sfgate main page states: "Newsom the exaggerator." Woaw, Gavin is being given the Al Gore treatment!
Newsom is making stuff up, is exaggerating his accomplishments, is taking credit when none is due. Harsh headlines from the Chron! And, as for Al Gore, it is unfair...
A team led by Carla Marinucci, who else?, is on the case. The article is more circumspect than the headlines, but it is raising the question.
In making a case for how he will tackle the daunting financial and social challenges of the nation's most populous state, Newsom has stressed at the forums what he says are his city's landmark accomplishments in four key areas: health care, the environment, the budget and education.
But some critics suggest that, in his quest to boost his political profile, the mayor may be overstating those accomplishments or, in some cases, is oversimplifying the issues.
Let's assume for a moment that the critics are right, how is that different from any of the other politicians in the race?
The article shows its true colors by quoting a cherry-picked poll: A KGTV poll this week of 500 registered voters in San Diego County showed that just 11 percent hold a favorable view of Newsom, compared with 22 percent unfavorable, 23 percent neutral - and 44 percent who have no opinion of him. Duh, in Republican San Diego, where seniors and soldiers live, Gavin, he of the gay weddings, polls unfavorably. Big deal. But for California to discover another side of Gavin, he had to campaign and communicate in group sessions.
While the sessions showcase Newsom's considerable communications skills, they have raised questions about whether he is taking too much credit for the city's gains.
Then the article quotes Tom Ammiano, Ross Mirkarimi who are disgruntled because Newsom is taking credit for stuff that they initiated as supervisors. What else are they supposed to say? And it quotes some Sierra Club guy saying that the claims of Newsom regarding emissions are hard to quantify. And that's it!
Well, not for the Chron, who also runs a separate piece, Getting Real about Newsom's Claims. Another misleading headline.
Claim 1- Health Care, bottom line: Newsom has won praise from President Obama for the plan, but the mayor rarely mentions that then-Supervisor Tom Ammiano was its key catalyst; the mayor originally opposed employer mandates that are a major component. The mayor wanted employer mandates to be optional, and finally went along with the board's recommendation. Pragmatism: Yes. Exaggeration: nope.
Claim 2- Education, bottom line: The mayor has no official role in the public schools except to appoint people to vacant school board seats. While he has been more involved in schools than previous mayors, he can't claim credit for rising test scores and other academic achievements. The claim is that he increased funding. The Chron states he can't claim credit for rising test scores yet in the paragraph above writes: The city spends $500,000 a year for test preparation, mentors and other support. As if that would not impact test scores... The Chron: let's not stop our blatant contradictions from criticizing Newsom.
Claim 3- Green Initiative, bottom line: San Francisco's green credentials are strong, and Newsom has earned plaudits for championing them. But the specifics of some of his claims are hard to verify from third-party sources. Translation: we don't know if he is exaggerating, we don't have the data he has, but let's not let that stop us from insinuating he is.
Claim 4- Jobs, bottom line: Newsom deserves credit for bringing biotech jobs to Mission Bay and focusing on green-collar jobs, but construction jobs for development projects were years in the making. His administration hastened some of them and has maintained a strong bond rating to make work possible. The no-new-taxes claim is technically true - for now - but just about everybody in the city will be dipping into their pockets more to pay for city services. So Newsom's claim is true, for now. I guess he is exaggerating because he is only touting his current accomplishment- for now-, without mentioning that disaster might strike in the future.
Of the four claims, the thorough fact check of the Chron does not disprove anything! If anything, it shows that Newsom has a rather firm ground to stand when he is making the claims.
Then why run a front page article on the topic? But to plant the seed of doubts, of course! Let's see if the meme catches, the Chron is asking. After all, it worked for Al Gore. And the Chron is not in the business of sharing true information, it's in the business of trying to elect Republicans.
[as an aside, there is an honest case against Newsom, the SF Appeal makes it.]
Newsom is making stuff up, is exaggerating his accomplishments, is taking credit when none is due. Harsh headlines from the Chron! And, as for Al Gore, it is unfair...
A team led by Carla Marinucci, who else?, is on the case. The article is more circumspect than the headlines, but it is raising the question.
In making a case for how he will tackle the daunting financial and social challenges of the nation's most populous state, Newsom has stressed at the forums what he says are his city's landmark accomplishments in four key areas: health care, the environment, the budget and education.
But some critics suggest that, in his quest to boost his political profile, the mayor may be overstating those accomplishments or, in some cases, is oversimplifying the issues.
Let's assume for a moment that the critics are right, how is that different from any of the other politicians in the race?
The article shows its true colors by quoting a cherry-picked poll: A KGTV poll this week of 500 registered voters in San Diego County showed that just 11 percent hold a favorable view of Newsom, compared with 22 percent unfavorable, 23 percent neutral - and 44 percent who have no opinion of him. Duh, in Republican San Diego, where seniors and soldiers live, Gavin, he of the gay weddings, polls unfavorably. Big deal. But for California to discover another side of Gavin, he had to campaign and communicate in group sessions.
While the sessions showcase Newsom's considerable communications skills, they have raised questions about whether he is taking too much credit for the city's gains.
Then the article quotes Tom Ammiano, Ross Mirkarimi who are disgruntled because Newsom is taking credit for stuff that they initiated as supervisors. What else are they supposed to say? And it quotes some Sierra Club guy saying that the claims of Newsom regarding emissions are hard to quantify. And that's it!
Well, not for the Chron, who also runs a separate piece, Getting Real about Newsom's Claims. Another misleading headline.
Claim 1- Health Care, bottom line: Newsom has won praise from President Obama for the plan, but the mayor rarely mentions that then-Supervisor Tom Ammiano was its key catalyst; the mayor originally opposed employer mandates that are a major component. The mayor wanted employer mandates to be optional, and finally went along with the board's recommendation. Pragmatism: Yes. Exaggeration: nope.
Claim 2- Education, bottom line: The mayor has no official role in the public schools except to appoint people to vacant school board seats. While he has been more involved in schools than previous mayors, he can't claim credit for rising test scores and other academic achievements. The claim is that he increased funding. The Chron states he can't claim credit for rising test scores yet in the paragraph above writes: The city spends $500,000 a year for test preparation, mentors and other support. As if that would not impact test scores... The Chron: let's not stop our blatant contradictions from criticizing Newsom.
Claim 3- Green Initiative, bottom line: San Francisco's green credentials are strong, and Newsom has earned plaudits for championing them. But the specifics of some of his claims are hard to verify from third-party sources. Translation: we don't know if he is exaggerating, we don't have the data he has, but let's not let that stop us from insinuating he is.
Claim 4- Jobs, bottom line: Newsom deserves credit for bringing biotech jobs to Mission Bay and focusing on green-collar jobs, but construction jobs for development projects were years in the making. His administration hastened some of them and has maintained a strong bond rating to make work possible. The no-new-taxes claim is technically true - for now - but just about everybody in the city will be dipping into their pockets more to pay for city services. So Newsom's claim is true, for now. I guess he is exaggerating because he is only touting his current accomplishment- for now-, without mentioning that disaster might strike in the future.
Of the four claims, the thorough fact check of the Chron does not disprove anything! If anything, it shows that Newsom has a rather firm ground to stand when he is making the claims.
Then why run a front page article on the topic? But to plant the seed of doubts, of course! Let's see if the meme catches, the Chron is asking. After all, it worked for Al Gore. And the Chron is not in the business of sharing true information, it's in the business of trying to elect Republicans.
[as an aside, there is an honest case against Newsom, the SF Appeal makes it.]
Comments:
Post a Comment
