November 13, 2002

In this issue

I ALWAYS HATE it when good, independent candidates for office, people who really have something to offer, get dismissed in the news media because they "can't raise money." Of course they can't raise money – if they could raise money, they'd be just like all the other politicians who do whatever the big donors want and only care about cash. Our team is supposed to be different.

You want someone who can raise money? Check out Bill Keller's column in the New York Times Nov. 2. Keller lists the top six members of Congress who are most likely to be "constantly lap-dancing for special-interest cash to finance the permanent campaign," people whose defeat "would make Capitol Hill a more civilized and productive place." He's not just talking about incompetent nitwits here; these are folks who, according to veteran Congress watchers, are the most venal and spineless members of the House and Senate.

Some of the names are exactly what you would expect: Rep. Tom DeLay of Texas, Sen. Max Baucus of Montana, Rep. Dan Burton of Indiana. But who's right up there in that august company?

Rep. Nancy Pelosi, of California. Of San Francisco, California. The one the San Francisco Chronicle is lauding for her leadership as she ascends to the top Democratic post.

Pelosi, Keller writes, wasn't elevated by her "intelligence, her legislative acumen, her leadership, [or] her oratory," which "colleagues regard ... as average at best." No – she rose to the top because she could raise money.

"Ms. Pelosi didn't make Congress a self-lubricating money machine, but she has done as much as any sitting Democrat to perpetuate it," Keller wrote.

And yet ... and yet ...

As we report in this issue, the progressives in San Francisco have to face a few ugly facts in the wake of the Nov. 5 defeats, and one of them is that we live in a city where the major daily newspaper doesn't really care much about local government – not enough to provide even a fraction of the space needed to cover city issues properly. So if we want to get the word out in citywide elections, we need to get better at ... raising money.

Not gobs, like Pelosi. Not from every bad special interest, like Mayor Willie Brown. But enough to send out a few mailers, to compete in the game.

Nasty business. But right now, there aren't a lot of better choices.