Archive for the ‘Antonio Villaraigosa’ Category

Those who survived a sex scandal. And those who didn’t

Wednesday, May 22, 2013 by:jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com (Joe Garofoli)
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As he launches his run for Mayor of New York, former Rep. Anthony Weiner should have no problem overcoming public loathing. This is America. We are a forgiving nation. For the most part.

Should history be our guide, Weiner will rise again. (Oh, you knew that hackery was coming sooner or later.)

Think about Thomas Jefferson. Dude had sex and a child with his teenaged slave. Where is TJ today? On Mount Rushmore.

This is America. Land of forgivers.

For contemporary inspiration on these matters, Weiner should look no further than the man who officiated at his wedding: Former President Bill Clinton.

Stains on a blue dress? “I did not have sexual relations with that woman…” Cigars. Clinton’s affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky — IN THE WHITE HOUSE — seems like a million years ago culturally. Clinton has rehabbed to the point where the internationally-revered Clinton Global Initiative gets props for saving President Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign by being what Obama called The Secretary of Explaining Stuff (that, uh, Obama couldn’t.)

Another factor helping Weiner: His sex scandal didn’t — as far as we know — involve ACTUAL SEX. As we wrote way back when, it was 21st century scandal. The sexless sex scandal.

Check our slideshow above for some other politicians who were caught in sex scandals and managed to remain either in office or as prominent national voices.

Of course, there are many who didn’t survive their sex scandals. Sen. Larry Craig is at the top of the list. Even though he was arrested for allegedly trying to pick up an undercover cop in a Minneapolis airport bathroom — he later pled guilty to disorderly conduct — he never really owned the matter. Of note: Craig had a history of anti-gay political stances.

And John Edwards? Puh-leeze. Dude cheated on his wife while she had/was recovering from cancer. Even America doesn’t forgive everybody. Then again, maybe there’s a show for him on CNN….

But don’t feel too bad for Edwards. He’s now working on Wall Street.

Here’s Weiner’s re-entry into the political world:

Will U.S. mayors be the real muscle to get tougher gun laws? (VIDEO)

Tuesday, December 18, 2012 by:cmarinucci@sfchronicle.com (Carla Marinucci)
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Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson are among a crowd of U.S. mayors now calling on President Obama and the Congress to back California U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein’s renewed efforts toward tougher gun laws in the wake of the Connecticut school massacre. 

The mayors, in conjunction with the U.S. Conference of Mayors, sent an open letter Monday to Obama and legislators in the wake of Friday’s horrific Newtown, Conn. shooting. The appeal said that it’s not only time for a tough look at tough gun laws, but also “a reversal of the culture of violence in this country, a commission
to examine violence in the nation, and more adequate funding for the mental health system.”

Joe Tuman, the SFSU communications department chair and former Oakland mayoral candidate, told us Monday that — after years of unanswered calls for such reforms from Congress — it will now be the responsibility of  local officials on the front lines to keep up the political pressure.

While Tuman lauds Feinstein’s efforts, he also registers profound frustration with the situation in cities like Oakland, where he says he’s watched a parade of young victims succumb to gun violence.

“We’ve had 121 murders in Oakland this year alone. That doesn’t even include the number of people who have been shot but not killed, or threatened with guns in muggings or assaults. Where is the outrage here?,” he wrote in a Facebook blog this week. “I think it is great that Senator Feinstein is willing to revisit the assault weapon ban—but honestly, where has she been for the past year while violent crime in cities like Oakland surged?”

“Why does it take a national news story to get people in Washington to pay attention to what’s happening at home every day?”

Tuman told us that Feinstein, a centrist Democrat whose political career was shaped by gun violence — the City Hall assasination of Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk — is well-positioned to push the matter.
But it will take local officials to stay tough, keep up the heat — and get Congress and the White House to finally act, he said.

Looks like the U.S. mayors are now resolved to push the matter in hopes that the the issues doesn’t go away this time.

Here’s excerpts from their letter released today:

“Again and again and again, Americans are stunned by senseless acts of violence involving guns. Friday’s
tragedy targeting young children in Newtown is incomprehensible. Too many times this year, mayors have
expressed shock at a mass shooting. Even more frequently, many of us must cope with the gun violence that
occurs on the streets of our cities. …
“The Conference has been calling for sensible gun laws to protect the public for more than 40 years. Mayors
and police chiefs from cities of all sizes have worked together in this effort over the years.
“We urge you to take immediate action: the President to exercise his powers though Executive Order and
Congress to introduce and pass legislation to make reasonable changes in our gun laws and regulations.
Specifically we call on you to:
• Enact legislation to ban assault weapons and other high-capacity magazines being prepared by Senator
Dianne Feinstein and others;
• Strengthen the national background check system and eliminate loopholes in it; and
• Strengthen the penalties for straw purchases of guns. …
“We believe that with this latest national tragedy and the high incidence of gun violence that continues to
plague our streets, we have reached a tipping point. The nation’s mayors pledge to work with you to build a
safer America for our children and all of our citizens.”

LA Mayor Villaraigosa, Obama campaign’s tireless “go-to guy,” going full speed till Tuesday

Monday, November 5, 2012 by:cmarinucci@sfchronicle.com (Carla Marinucci)
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Democratic Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who’s been nothing short of a political whirlwind for the Barack Obama campaign, can legitimately claim the mantle of the campaign’s “go to guy” as the race comes to a close.

And he’s not stopping — until the polls close. On Sunday, he raced from Los Angeles to Florida — and he’ll be with Obama Tuesday night in Chicago.

“Our own internal polling has us up on in the margins virtually everywhere,’’ Villaraigosa told us by phone, as he raced from event to event. “But we’re slugging it out….it’s going to be very, very, close. It’s all about turnout now — and getting out the base.”

With just hours to go, the mayor is wrapping up a stint as one of the most energetic and high profile surrogates for the Obama team for months now.

It’s work that that has ramped up buzz that he will likely be considered for a high profile Obama Administration role – transportation and commerce are two areas mentioned — if the President wins a second term.

He downplays the talk.

“My only focus right now is to finish my job, and to leave this city with a bang,’’ he said. “This has been the highest honor I’ve ever had. And I couldn’t be prouder to be the mayor of the city that my grandpa came to 100 years ago with a dream. My only focus is to be finish the job strong.’’
But “I’m honored they’ve talking about it,’’ he said.
Still, Villaraigosa has earned a national profile as a star surrogate for Obama on both every English-language network and cable channel – including Sunday shows like “Meet the Press” and “This Week’’ — but also on Spanish-language TV and radio, including Univison, Telemundo and Fox Latino.

Villaraigosa, who also headed up the U.S. Conference of Mayors, won raves as he headed up the Democratic National Convention — considered one of the most successful in the party’s history.

But the mayor also gamely hit the spin room after debates and delivered keynotes at party gatherings in battleground state events, while logging tens of thousands of miles in states like Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Iowa.

Villaraigosa worked equally hard for candidate Hillary Clinton in 2008. In 2012, he said, “I put my heart and soul in it, not just because I believe in this president, but because I love this country.”

Just don’t get him started on GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
“I have never seen a candidate, Democrat or Republican, be so bald-faced in distorting a record….while so brazenly misrepresenting his own,’’ he said. In the end, the “Etch-A-Sketch” campaign didn’t work.’’

By Tuesday, we’ll know if it worked,  but many political insiders suggest whatever happens, the career of Villaraigosa may take a new — and even higher profile — turn.
“When I leave (this job), if I do nothing else — and I may not do anything else,’’ he says, “I had a grand time.”