Mayor Gavin Newsom: Big ideas, couple little flaws

Even political consultants, who give out compliments as if they were drops of their blood, agree. Facing a crowd, without notes and holding a microphone, Mayor Gavin Newsom is as good as it gets.

The downside is he undermines his charisma with petulance. For someone who is proud of taking on the big fights, he is painfully thin-skinned.

We've seen both in his seven years as mayor. In the last few years, he has championed same-sex marriages, a groundbreaking universal health care program, Healthy San Francisco, and suffered an inelegant meltdown. When his gubernatorial campaign floundered, he disappeared to Hawaii in November without telling anyone.

While his critics dub him the "Vanna White of politics" for his good looks but lack of substance, history will see Newsom's tenure as a success. He's got a laundry list of accomplishments - just ask him - and the city is better because of them.

He made news by defying state law to allow same-sex couples to marry weeks into his first term, but he also made policy. In a difficult political period - a surge to the far left in the Board of Supervisors - he was quick to take unpopular stances.

A story in The Chronicle about homeless campers in Golden Gate Park produced an immediate plan to get them out and into housing.

His administration was vilified as "Nazi" for Care Not Cash, which cut welfare checks in favor of housing. It is now a national model for housing the homeless. He spearheaded the Community Justice Center, which tries to provide services for low-level offenses instead of jail time, and he wrote an ordinance to ban sitting or lying in public streets during certain hours of the day. Both faced withering criticism.

As great as those policies are, we don't need Newsom to remind us that he deserves credit for them.

The self-absorption is the knock that has stuck. Those who remember him from when he joined the Board of Supervisors in 1997 say he acted as though he didn't need anyone's help. He took on difficult issues - but was often the lone wolf.

"I never played the inside game," he said. "I wasn't the guy sitting down and having lunch with guys. I didn't want to be that guy."

That's already hurt him on the bigger stage, and if he has his sight set on another office, he will need to overcome his aversion to making one-on-one connections.

In the governor's race, his team set a campaign budget of $25 million but never got above single digits. Newsom told staffers that he hated fundraising. But he must learn to make those calls and sell himself.

Certainly, the hail-fellow-well-met is not in his DNA. There is the story of the wedding reception where Newsom drifted over and sat with the band. He may have loved the music, but some thought it was a good way to duck the small talk.

Newsom should take a cue from his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom. She remembers names, asks about others and could show him a thing or two about social interaction. Their daughter, Montana, and the impending birth of a son can only soften his image.

As for raw politics, Newsom has less to do.

He may have an autocratic administrative style, but he is brimming with ideas. He just needs to turn down the fire hose of information. When he came to The Chronicle's Editorial Board last week, he talked for 37 minutes before anyone else could get a word in.

That's too long. We told him that after the 7 1/2 hour State of the City speech, but it hasn't sunk in.

That said, I'm going to miss him. Sure, he tends to take even constructive criticism as a personal attack. But there's a good guy in there somewhere, if he'd just slow down and listen.

Besides, take a look at the list of those running to become mayor. Can you honestly say that any of them has the pizzazz, charisma and big ideas of Newsom?

Let me answer that - no.

C.W. Nevius' column appears Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. E-mail him at cwnevius@sfchronicle.com.

This article appeared on page C - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle