In San Francisco Morals Are A Nuisance

Before San Francisco, there was Sodom and Gomorrah:

July 13 (Bloomberg) -- San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom is running for re-election virtually unopposed, more popular than ever, after admitting to having an affair with a top aide's wife and entering an alcohol-treatment program.

Newsom, whose approval ratings are running close to 80 percent, said he expects a credible candidate to emerge eventually. So far, challengers include a street-performing clown, a homeless man, an advocate for nudism, and a candidate who pledges to wear a camera so voters can monitor his performance in office.

``We haven't seen anything like this in a very long time,'' said David Binder, a pollster who has tracked San Francisco politics since the early 1980s. It's becoming one of the oddest elections in 25 years in a city known for making incumbent mayors endure bruising campaigns, he said.