Last night the phone lines were blazing when the story hit the wires about Mayor Gavin Newsom’s affair with a woman who was 1) a staff member; 2) a substance abuser and 3) the wife of a staffer with whom Newsom was personal friends. Newsom’s deputy chief of staff confronted him yesterday after his wife confessed the affair.
Yesterday, Newsom refused to comment. Today, Newsom admitted the affair: "I want to make it clear that everything you’ve heard and read is true, and I am deeply sorry about that. I am deeply sorry, and I am accountable for what has occurred."
I’m betting that Newsom’s public approval numbers in SF actually go UP after this story and the accompanying apology.
After all, in today’s America, what you do doesn’t really matter as long as you apologize for it, right?
Former Mayor Willie Brown, no stranger to sex-related scandals, told the Chronicle, "any time you have a scandal associated with sex and relationship, there is no way to predict how the public will react. In my own experience, you just have to be prepared to ride with the storm. You can’t shut it down and stop it."
According to Fraser P. Seitel, the author of The Practice of Public Relations, apologizing is the best approach to a public relations problem. In a column for TCS Daily titled "2006: Year of the Apology," Seitel wrote, "It often — not always, but often — constitutes the wisest public relations advice to apologize, do it quickly to stop the bleeding, and then demonstrate the sincerity of the apology with subsequent action."
Newsom’s own flack, Peter Ragone, was having his own PR problem before the news of his boss’ affair broke.
This should end Newsom’s career. People who attend the Clinton School of Thought will no doubt start the chorus of "it’s a private matter" and "they were consenting adults." But it is not the sex that is the problem (well, it probably is for the husband!), it is Newsom’s judgment and character. He’s currently trying to decide whether he runs for mayor again. I hope that he does not. But if he does, he does not deserve to win. His deputy chief of staff trusted him as a boss and as a friend. Newsom betrayed that trust. If he can’t be loyal to a good friend or take his responsibility as an employer seriously, why should the public trust him?
February 1st, 2007 at 12:00 am
“Betrayal”….. you employed exactly the right word. This was sleazy,
disloyal, and arrogant behavior. Revulsion at these qualities crosses
all party lines.
I wonder why the wife remained silent so long, and only now told her
husband. She must have known the likely consequences for him…
the end (for now) of his own political career.
February 2nd, 2007 at 12:00 am
Newsom made the decision to run for reelection months ago. He has, or had, a fully staffed organization and has raised the lot of money. The decision now is should he withdraw. Given his arrogance and lack of morals, I’m betting he stays in.
February 5th, 2007 at 12:00 am
To Jennifer the Queen of Prudishness and Total Non-Forgiving. For the wife had nothing to do with this consenting l’affair ? Me thinks the hypocrisy of it all will still let the mayor keep separation of duties and private affairs just that. Do you live in a cave ? You do need to move to an island, without email. frank treadway
February 5th, 2007 at 12:00 am
Associated Press is reproting today that Mayor Newsom will seek Rehab to
deal with an alcoholism problem.
“Newsom, 39, said that while ‘my problems with alcohol are not an excuse
for my personal lapses in judgment,’ he had stopped drinking and wanted
professional help staying sober.”
The line about “my personal lapses in judgment” appears to render Mr.
Treadway’s “you’re all a bunch of Blue Noses” argument as irrelevant.