Gavin on Working Honeymoon… with Garry South?

August 4, 2008

San Francisco Chronicle

Is Democratic San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom already putting together his team for that 2010 gubernatorial run?

The newlywed mayor and his wife, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, were spotted in Malibu Saturday, honeymooning deep in lengthy conservation over frappucinos — with Democratic uber-political consultant Garry South.

UPDATE! Here’s the new video link.

Little problem for the environmentally-hip SF mayor at the usually star-laden Starbucks, the blogger reports.

”His Yukon was parked in the fire lane,” Zuma Dogg says of Newsom. ”I told him if you’re running for governor, you’re off to a bad start.”

The GMC Yukon — uh, that’s 12 mpg city/18 highway — was moved immediately, he said.

But Zuma Dogg was also impressed with the New Mrs. Mayor, saying she was not just a pretty face at the table.

”’She’s very vocal, very much part of the conversation — not sitting there quiet,” he said.

So why would the three be hanging together in the Southland? Maybe because South, the take-no-prisoners former senior consultant to Democratic Gov. Gray Davis, has some deep experience with running winning statewide campaigns in California.

He engineered Davis’ run to the top slot despite being out-gunned and out-financed by competitors like millionaires Al Checchi and Rep. Jane Harman, and then the unpopular governor’s re-election against GOP millionaire Bill Simon in 2002.

Since it’s looking increasingly like a crowded slugfest on the Democratic side, with a lineup of GOP billionaires already checking out a run, ”the Mouth from the South” and his tough brass-knuckled approach to state politics could come in handy, indeed.

We heard the whole story from blogger Zuma Dogg, who caught the scene on video and on camera, and posted it on his own LA Daily blog link at his website, zumatimes.com.