Janet Reilly Is No Chris Daly. (In Case You Were Wondering)

By Peter Jamison Thu., Oct. 28 2010 at 6:35 PM

Categories: Politics

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Chris Daly. He's not blond.

Is there a more toxic name in local politics than that of District 6 Supervisor Chris Daly? In 2008 we saw efforts to attack progressive candidates for the Board of Supervisors by tagging them as Daly's "puppets." Now a website run by a group calling itself "Common Sense Voters" is attacking District 2 supervisorial hopeful Janet Reilly by claiming that Daly is "behind Janet Reilly's agenda for San Francisco."

The idea of any strong affinity between Reilly, a Seacliff resident and former television news reporter, and Daly, the profanity-spewing, self-appointed gladiator for the city's underclass, is about as laughable as the image of the latter politician playing with puppets. ("F*ck you, King Friday!"). But in the final weeks of a campaign, baseless accusations have a way of sticking. So it is that no less a political figure than Mayor Gavin Newsom has issued a formal statement to the effect that Reilly is no Daly.

In a message broadcast via e-mail and posted on Reilly's website, Newsom has this to say:

For the past seven years, there has been no greater opponent of Chris Daly's agenda than me. I have known Janet Reilly for well over a decade, and I can assure you that comparisons between her and Daly are utterly ridiculous. Janet Reilly opposes Chris Daly's agenda as much as I do. She has the full support of our city's greatest moderate leaders and she will be a strong moderate voice on the board. I urge you to support her.

So there you have it. But did this really need saying? We can't imagine anyone deserting Seacliff for Fairfield.

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