On the Chronicle Politics Blog: Carla Marinucci writes about Mitt Romney's new ad painting Newt Gingrich as just to the left of Fidel Castro, all because he supported "Al Gore's liberal global warming agenda" in the form of a public service announcement he made with Nancy Pelosi.
"We do agree, our country must take action to address climate change," Gingrich says into the camera, seated all cozy on a couch next to the liberal Democrat.
Jeez, Newt may as well have been caught french-kissing Michael Moore in front of a "Free Palestine!" banner at Occupy Oakland. You may remember the period leading up to the 2010 mid-term election, when the entire Republican campaign seemed to revolve around the pillorying of Pelosi -- then Speaker of the House -- and by extension San Francisco. From an Oct 30, 2010 Bay Citizen article:
In the waning days of a highly charged election season, Republicans near and far are united against a common opponent: San Francisco. In ads and stump speeches, the city is repeatedly flogged as a symbol of the kind of out-of-step liberalism that Republicans vow to banish if they wrest control of Congress from Ms. Pelosi and the Democrats.
Nationally, the Republican National Committee has begun a “Fire Pelosi 2010 Bus Tour,” and ads tying Democrats to San Francisco have proliferated. In Georgia, a conservative Democrat seeking to distance himself from Pelosi is running a commercial featuring gyrating hippies and warning: “Georgia is a long way from San Francisco.”
The Bay Guardian, never a Pelosi fan, wondered at her status as a bete-noire of conservatives: