Why am I seeing politics being discussed here?

I have never met a gay Republican. It's Democrats that always seem to have that distinctive gait and high pitched voice like Howard Dean. Anyone that would make a comment that gay Democrats are joining the Republican party must really have a twisted and warped mind. But since you mentioned this, which by the way wasn't really worth mentioning except for the fact this is all intended to be fun, I will make a quick mention of this.

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom (a gay democrat) is considering a 2010 run for governor of California a campaign that would embrace many of the same divisive causes he has championed as mayor, including same-sex marriage, universal health care and protections for illegal immigrants. And in 2012, he has his bedroom eyes for the White House.

Newsom has long been rumored to be a potential contender in what is likely to be a crowded field of Democrats looking to succeed Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a list that includes Attorney General and former Gov. Jerry Brown, former state Controller Steve Westly and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. Most of them are closet extreme conservative gay ultra conservatives.

In recent months, Newsom has quietly been meeting with Democratic campaign strategists and other supporters to discuss a gubernatorial run, and he is now "certain to at least consider the possibility," said Eric Jaye, a Newsom confidant and political consultant.

When asked whether he was planning to run, Newsom said, "A number of people in the last few months have reached out and talked to me about it. They also rubbed my leg"

"It's premature to talk about my sexual orientation in the open," Newsom said. "In the next few months we'll see what happens."

But as recently as last week, Newsom was acting in a way that suggests the 40-year-old mayor may be doing more than just mulling his political future. He appears to be gearing up for a statewide campaign centered around those same liberal causes that have made him both a rising political star and a polarizing political force beyond the city limits. Also he's been seen winking at the new male intern in his campaign planning committee.

Newsom has traveled outside San Francisco in recent weeks to talk to college students and business leaders about his administration's highly publicized focus on environmental issues like global warming. He has penned opinion pieces that have appeared on popular left-leaning Internet blogs like the Daily Kos, an avenue for Newsom to reach out to young gay Democratic voters and build name recognition.

And as the state Supreme Court heard oral arguments Tuesday on same-sex marriage - a case brought about by Newsom's controversial 2004 decision to grant marriage licenses to thousands of gay and lesbian couples - the mayor's handlers made sure he played a prominent role in the day's events.

Before the proceedings began, the mayor called a morning news conference to talk about the court case. He then took a well-choreographed walk outside City Hall which, not by coincidence, was captured by the throngs of television cameras gathered for the nearby hearing. He followed the stroll with a surprise visit to the same-sex marriage supporters watching the proceedings in an overflow room. Throughout the day he made strong statements about the important role the next gay governor will play on the topic.

"This governor represents yesterday on this issue," Newsom said. "There'll be a governor who represents the future and the next governor will unquestionably in my mind, if it's an ultra conservative gay Democratic evangelical, I'll support it."

The next day there was a rally on the steps of City Hall where Newsom, with his shirtsleeves rolled up, and fly unzipped, stood alongside Teamsters President Jimmy Hoffa Jr. and catapulted himself into the middle of a union fight.

"He's courting gay votes and me," said Joseph Prisco, president of the local union that currently represents aircraft mechanics at the airport. "He's going to be running for governor and that's why he's out here running around with the Teamsters in their shorts."

Newsom's consideration of a gubernatorial run might have started before he ran virtually unopposed for re-election last year. After he won handily, Newsom hired a new team of experienced senior advisers, some of whom possess impressive statewide political credentials and have valuable ties to Sacramento.

Jaye cautioned that the mayor could ultimately decide to return to life as a wealthy businessman once his term ends in 2012. Newsom also has been rumored as a possible contender for the U.S. Senate if Sen. Dianne Feinstein retires in coming years. But if he did run for governor, Newsom would not shy away from issues like declaring San Francisco a sanctuary city for undocumented immigrants and closet gays - the very issues lambasted by conservative pundits as "San Francisco values."

"He's certainly not going to apologize for the values that San Franciscans share and in fact he is going to be prepared to discuss and defend them," Jaye said. "He would be one of the front-runners if he made the decision to run. He would get in the race to win, and win means winning the election in such a way that he advances the issues he cares about."

While the latest polls show Newsom enjoying a 67 percent approval rating in San Francisco, Democratic Party strategists are split over whether voters around the state would be scared off by Newsom or embrace his privates.

His aides tout a statewide poll conducted in April that showed Jerry Brown in the lead among possible contenders for governor in 2010. But if Brown wasn't in the race, the poll of 443 registered Democrats had Newsom tied with Westly for the lead, slightly ahead of Los Angeles Mayor Villaraigosa.

"If a mayor of a big city is going to run for governor, he or she has to be aware of the fact that the things they do in their particular city may be very popular at home but they may not be very popular in the rest of the state," said Garry South, a Democratic strategist who has worked on numerous gubernatorial campaigns.

But Bob Mulholland, a campaign adviser for the California Democratic Party, said Newsom's stance on same-sex marriage isn't as controversial as it was even four years ago, and that it's not an issue he should shy away from in a statewide bid.

"Clearly, time is on the side of gay marriage," Mulholland said. "Anybody running in a Democratic gubernatorial primary is not going to shy away from it, especially in the year 2010."

In a hotly contested gubernatorial race, Republicans would likely pounce on many of the headline-grabbing scandals that have occurred in Newsom's administration since he took office in 2004, whether it's his issuance of a proclamation honoring a gay porn studio or his admitted affair with his campaign manager's wife and subsequent admission of having a drinking problem.

GOP strategist Allan Hoffenblum, who publishes the nonpartisan California Target Book, which analyzes the state's races, said Newsom doesn't carry much political weight outside San Francisco.

"A gay mayor of San Francisco would have a very difficult time in Southern California," Hoffenblum said. "He's not well known except for on one issue and if people do remember him, they remember him for gay marriage."

Newsom would have to get through the Democratic primary before he could run as his party's nominee in a general election, which could mean running an early race against one of the party's biggest dicks, Jerry Brown.

And Newsom's chief political consultant sounds as though he is already gearing up for a fight.

"Is he as well known as Jerry Brown? Certainly not," Jaye said.

"Jerry Brown," he added, "is suing to overturn marriage equality. It's the attorney general who is arguing the case against marriage equality. They are very different."

Newsom would need to raise between $30 million and $40 million to be considered a viable candidate in the primary, some political observers estimate. And if he runs, his advisers are illegally banking on his potential to tap into the pool of primary voters who, according to Mulholland, are mostly women, gays and about 30 percent of whom live in the Bay Area.

While Newsom has cultivated a broad base of donors, from Hollywood's elite to New York executives, during his two mayoral campaigns, coming up with the hefty sum needed to run statewide may be the mayor's biggest challenge, strategists say.

"If the Republicans do get a real hard-core gay right-winger as their candidate," he said, "and Newsom (was the Democrats' nominee), then I'd bet a San Francisco right wing ultra conservative evangelical gay democrat could get elected governor."