(Some thoughts from the current San Francisco Democratic Party Chair and former president of the Board of Supes on the role of a clean campaign in electing a Democratic Governor. – promoted by Brian Leubitz)

In the past month, the political spin doctors behind Mayor Gavin Newsom have been boasting about their intent to run a negative campaign against their most likely Democratic opponent for Governor – California’s Attorney General and former Governor Jerry Brown.

In just the latest round of personal attacks, Newsom strategist Garry South attacked Brown in print for having taken “more positions than in the Karma Sutra.” I will leave it to Mayor Newsom to explain why his staff is making references to sex manuals, particularly given his own recent scandals. But this latest detour into political trash talk illustrates why Democrats across California need to be concerned with Newsom’s intent to launch a negative campaign.

As Chair of the San Francisco Democratic Party, my mission is to help make sure we elect a Democratic governor in November of 2010. The latest series of devastating state cuts to services for children and seniors is another reminder of just how important it is for our party to win back the governor’s office in Sacramento.

Edit By Brian for space, see the flip…

Achieving this most important goal is going to be difficult enough for Democrats, considering the challenging history of California gubernatorial elections and the hard reality that the Republicans are likely to nominate either Meg Whitman or Steve Poizner, either of whom can pour tens of millions of personal dollars into their own campaigns. Newsom’s own strategist acknowledges just how difficult it is for Democrats to win California Gubernatorial elections.

But if Newsom continues his negative campaign, we will almost certainly emerge in June with a divided party and a weakened nominee. The only beneficiary of such a strategy will be the Republicans.

After pledging to run a netroots-driven campaign that could “change California,” Newsom is now resorting the most traditional form of electioneering – raising money from special interests and using those funds to attack his opponent.

Democrats need to be concerned about this change of strategy because of the logical consequences of such a campaign. If Newsom continues to attack Brown, particularly in such a personal and juvenile fashion, he will both depress grassroots enthusiasm and ultimately draw a response.

Having served with Newsom on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, and having worked both with him and against him depending on the policy when I served as President of the Board during his mayoral administration, I know just how vulnerable Newsom is to the counter-attacks his negative strategy will draw.

Newsom’s personal and political vulnerabilities are legion, and well known to San Franciscans who have followed his career. Why he is throwing stones, considering the brittle consistency of his own political house, is mysterious.

But his constant attacks, and the counter-attacks that could shatter his own candidacy, will leave our party weak and dispirited going into one of the most important gubernatorial elections in recent history.

As Democrats, we need to make sure this does not happen. That’s why both the Democratic parties of San Francisco and Los Angeles Counties have passed Clean Campaign resolutions, urging Newsom, and any other candidate who enters the race, to agree to a positive campaign.

Newsom has so far refused to sign this pledge. But we hope that the netroots will hold him accountable and help us encourage him to stop the attacks and return to a clean campaign.