Posted on 11/09/2006 11:03:29 AM PST by SmithL
Gay weddings in the U.S. Capitol. Hippie gatherings on the Mall. Hempfest along the Potomac.
Republican campaign strategists have evoked such images to mock the Democrats and especially San Francisco's Nancy Pelosi, who has represented Babylon by the Bay since 1987 and now stands poised to become speaker of the House.
But in the district where Pelosi was re-elected Tuesday with more than 80 percent of the vote, constituents say that Middle America has nothing to fear from San Francisco and that the city has more variety than its most colorful elements might suggest.
"They think we are tree-huggers and granola eaters," Mary Graves, 47, a self-described mainstream Democrat, said with a laugh. "I explain that I'm just tolerant and love diversity and having everyone get along and respect each other."
San Francisco is, without a doubt, the nation's unofficial gay capital and a bastion of the far left and the radical fringe. But it is also the home of cutting-edge businesses, rich Internet entrepreneurs and other buccaneering capitalists, and a monied class that thrives on fine dining and the arts.
The results of Tuesday's municipal election, in which Pelosi's Republican challenger got more votes than the Green Party candidate, capture San Francisco's political complexity. Residents approved a measure requiring employers to provide sick pay to hourly workers. But they rejected a proposal to raise taxes on parking garages.
Aaron Peskin, president of the city Board of Supervisors, said San Francisco has such ethnic, cultural and political diversity that its elected officials must be masters of consensus-building.
"The kinds of skills you need to be an effective decision-maker on the local level in San Francisco — having to compromise between various constituencies — makes someone very well situated for doing that in our nation's capital," he said of Pelosi.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Oh please, I lived there for six years. It's even kookier than most people think.
Sodom and Gomorrah have nothing on San Fransicko.
I, for one, don't give a damn about San Fagcisco.
I always felt that California is a country all to its own. Kind of like Holland
Disputing the truth is always amusing....
This is a city government that prohibits military recruiting in all schools. You can't say that about any other city in America.
Not a bleeding heart but a bleeding 'something else'.
GMTHA
Been there and agree.
I'd like to hear opinions on this from people like Melanie Morgan, Michael Savage, Brian Sussman, Barbara Olsen, Lee Rogers, David Gold, etc.
The main stream Dhimmis here are typically either natives who are unionista types, or, are transplants from Lib enclaves back East. The thing the increased their numbers was the influx of workers into high tech and finance. So many of them are Lefties between 45 and 60 years old who were edumacated in the Ivies or wannabe Ivies.
How true. With the heavy Democrat influence, welfare recipients, drug addicts, and sexual deviants, S.F. has a greater diversity of lowlifes than any other city in America. Seattle is trying like hell to catch up, though.
I don't believe any of them actually LIVE in San Francisco. If I recall correctly, Melanie and Weiner are in Marin, Sussman is on the Peninsula (Santa Clara), Barbara SIMPSON (not Olsen, RIP 9/11/01) lives in Walnut Creek, and Rogers and Gold don't even live in California.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.