Gay Bay Mayor Gives 7.5 Hour State of the City Address on YouTube

Gavin Newsom, mayor of San Francisco and the guy who at one point decided to legalize gay marriage in his city without the benefit of an actual law, and was caught in an affair and ended up in rehab, gave his "State of the City" address on YouTube - all 7 1/2 hours of it. He's not getting great reviews:

San Francisco -- When San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom posted an epic State of the City speech on YouTube on Monday, reaction was mixed.

"Just what I wanted," said Aaron Peskin, outgoing president of the Board of Supervisors. "Somebody imitating Al Gore for 7 1/2 hours. The guy did a Fidel Castro."

But Newsom's staff is taking the long view.

"By next year, or two years from now, everybody will be doing this," said Eric Jaye, Newsom's political strategist.

The mayor's brain trust thinks it is on to something, but there is disagreement about what it is. Some think it's a plot to co-opt the mainstream media. Others suspect it's a digital gateway for Newsom's run for governor. And some hope it will touch voters in an innovative way.

"I believe in this," said mayoral spokesman Nathan Ballard. "I'm optimistic that we will reach more constituents than ever before."

Right. Because people, particularly young voters, watch YouTube. But those people are watching funny cat stunts and people flying off trampolines, not a video of a talking head reciting eye-glazing statistics.

Supervisor Sean Elsbernd applauds the mayor for "a fantastic use of new technology." But he also admitted he hasn't watched more than 2 1/2 minutes and isn't likely to view much more.

"Realistically, are the supervisors going to sit for 7 1/2 hours and watch this?" Elsbernd said. "No."

This guy wants to be California's next governor and I shudder to think what that would be like. If he can do 7 1/2 hours for the City of San Francisco, he could probably go a couple of days on the "State of the State" message.