Had A Bad Day
Okay, to start things off, that's a YouTube clip of Daniel Powter's Had A Bad Day. Play it as you read this post!
Gavin Newsom started off the first day of the rest of his life with a press conference at the Academy of Art College about PG&E's "Energy Watch" program. Since it was the first press conference he's done since announcing his plan to seek treatment for alcohol abuse, it was, predictably, mobbed with media. (N.B.: silver-gray tie.)
When he saw the scene, Gavin noted sardonically, "I never knew they were so interested in this issue!" Hey, that's not very nice to the Bay Guardian reporter present, who's been doggedly covering the corporatization of the city's environmental policy for months, if not years.
The meeting went downhill from there, with Gavin receiving no applause when he was introduced, and a tense reception for his speech about power-saving light bulbs. After the speech, he refused to take any questions not about energy, and when the Bay Guardian reporter asked if he ever would, Gavin said, "You've taken liberty with the question." Gavin then tersely asked another reporter to get out of the way of his door as he got into his town car and sped off. In revenge, the Chronicle described him as "testy" in their breaking news report this afternoon.
Yesterday at a public meeting, Gavin snapped at a photographer and Chron reporter as well, interrupting the meeting to say angrily, "Should I just pose for you so you can get your shot? What do you want? What's the headline in tomorrow's paper?" (For the record, it was "Newsom to Seek Help for Alcohol Abuse.")
Testy indeed! Man, if he's still that upset this Saturday, the second Fake Question Time is going to be off the hook.
And extra bonus after the jump: your late-afternoon links.
Video still from today's press conference from ABC 7.
--KGO 7 runs a report about how Jake McGoldrick took advantage of Newsom's "open door policy" with Supervisors to tell Newsom he needs to resign. The meeting was only about 10 minutes, but McGoldrick looked hoppin' mad. No mildewing in a corner for this District 1 supe!
--KGO 7 also runs a skeptical report about whether doing a session of personal counseling meetings with a friend, even if she's the head of the Delancey Street Foundation, is really going to work in terms of alcohol rehabilitation. The report also notes the recent use of rehab as a PR move.
--Update!: Thanks to SFist Jim, who forwarded this piece from CBS5, where John Burton says he talked Gavin into getting help, and that the two of them happened to run into Mimi Silbert at the time.
--SF Metblogs takes Gavin's side on this one, noting Gavin's bad week and saying, "Christ, who wouldn't get drunk under that kind of pressure?"
--Fog City Journal, unrepentant about having their Dianne Feinstein asking Newsom to resign scoop denied, runs with an analysis of Gavin's handlers and funders.
--The Guardian talks to Eric Jaye, who continues to be upbeat about Newsom's reelection campaign, and says no one is paying Alex Tourk anything out of any election contribution funds.
--Beth Spotswood still loves ya, baby, and
--a Kimberly Guilfoyle fan blog says Kimber's better off without Gavin anyways.