so sfist has no mention - before or after - about last night mayoral debate. and even in the posting about the zombie mob, it says nothing about the fact that it was at library outside the debate - which is a freeking great story and a perfect end to a debate that was boht amusing and a fabulously tongue-in-cheek reminder how zombie-like our politics (and media?) have become.

man, the political coverage on sfist lately has been so scant. even the major media outlets bothered to cover the debate, although they did so wihtout mentioning or showing once any of the serious second tier candidates - mecke, holmes, wolfe, sumchai. they just shoed newsom, chicken john, and the grasshopper cabdriver guy.

there was a time not too long ago when sfist was on top of local politics, making it funny and also explaining to non-politico readers what was going on in their city. but perhaps the editorial interest and point-of-view has shifted? and this noticable shift is not just about the mayor's race, but about what's going on in city hall and city government generally. it's too bad because the political stuff was well done and provided humor to the trainwreck that is often SF politics... :)

thanks for putting up the debate posting. i didn't mean to criticize you, brock... i was saying in my post above that i (and many others) miss the frequesnt political articles and fun-poking that you guys used to do... hell, maybe it's that i miss how rita was so prolific the most. but all things must change i know.

as someone who feels strongly that politics are poorly covered in this town - or often not covered at all - i loved that sfist was a place to go for amusing coverage of real things that afect real people, but that the major media might have interests to not run. sfist and similar sites are a way to equalize the $$ and power of normal political gamesmanship.

i was honestly livid last night when i watched how the local news ran the debate stories, as if there were no candidates other than newsom. as if some had not gotten MAJOR poltical endorsements. i mean Quintin Mecke has gotten the Harvey Milk Club, Tenants Union, Supervisors, several democratic clubs, Howard Dean Campaign's spin-off group (decocracy something or another), the Guardian. And he's blocked the mayor from getting other endorsements of two or thre dem clubs - this is a big deal if newsom is supposedly this untouchable dem party rockstar who is essentially already campaigning for governor.

Not a single mention of Quintin last night in the news, or even a shot of him. Just framed like Newsom versus crazies. So what if he and other serious candidates are not A-list stars like Ross or Matt wold have been? Quintin is solid and expereinced and is articulating a very different message than the incumbant. And, yes, I'm biased because I'm his friend.

I do think sfist has been remiss in not covering the mayor's race, including iconic progressive endorsements like the Harvey Milk Club's. Hell, Matt only got that by like one vote last time around, and Quintin won it with like 3/4 of the vote.

I suppose though that you may understand what i don't - perhaps there are few sfist readers who care about insider politics. But a publication also has the power to drum up interest in readers who aren't quite there yet. Some of this stuff should not be insider politics because they make huge differences in our day-to-day lives.

Thanks.