Running on adrenalin apparently left over from this morning's Bill Clinton endorsement, Gavin Newsom's crack campaign staff wasted no time in slapping back at
an SF Weekly blog item, which had alleged a vast political conspiracy with San Francisco's mayor at its center.
The purported affair, detailed in
"Ex-Treasure Island Czar: Clinton's Newsom Endorsement a Favor for Billionaire Ron Burkle" speculated that Bill Clinton's recent endorsement of Newsom was part of in an intricate series of political favors involving orgies at 30,000 feet and crooked development deals. The item quoted former Treasure Island Development Authority czar Tony Hall, who asserted that Clinton's endorsement was connected to Newsom's 2005 intervention on behalf of Burkle in a development deal on the island.
"Obviously, Newsom is going to go to the people he's done business with. Bill Clinton is connected to Burkle, and Burkle is connected to Newsom. The whole thing is corrupt," the item quoted Hall as saying.
Newsom's campaign manager Nick Clemons wasted no time in responding with rapier wit:
"Obviously, the only reason this endorsement is happening is because someone who is not supporting Mayor Newsom -- Ron Burkle -- prevailed on President Clinton, who Newsom clearly doesn't know and has probably never heard of, to do so," Clemons said in a statement swiftly e-mailed to SF Weekly.
"Great catch, guys," Clemons added with a vicious twist of the rhetorical knife.
Apparent translation: Clinton and Newsom are bosom buddies, you idiots.
