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The Great Left Hope

Matt Gonzalez wants to be mayor. And he doesn't mind climbing over fellow progressives to get the gig.

A A A Comments By Lessley Anderson and Jack Cheevers Wednesday, Oct 8 2003

"Sorry," said the bartender. "I like Matt Gonzalez. But I don't want to alienate anybody."

Grim-faced, the volunteers ordered beers and slumped into chairs circling a table, seemingly weighed down by all the bright yellow Gonzalez paraphernalia they carried. They gazed mournfully at the bar's chic patrons, who ignored them. One volunteer propped a Gonzalez sign against the base of the jukebox, and they all left.

Paolo Vescia

Matt Gonzalez greets well-wishers outside the Victoria Theatre on 16th Street following a mayoral debate.

Paolo Vescia

Gonzalez thinks he's the only progressive candidate who can catch front-runner Gavin Newsom (left).

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The group trekked a few more blocks to a spare, blond-wood eatery that looked as if it belonged on upper Fillmore Street instead of in the Tenderloin. But rather than try to convert any patrons, half of the group decided to call it quits and tuck into some California cuisine.

Afterward, their ranks thinned to four, the group marched over to a black-walled rocker hangout called the Hemlock, where the Edinburgh scenario repeated itself. Their Gonzalez sign was refused, and the volunteers quickly ducked out.

The group had walked for miles. They still had a long list of bars on their computer printout, but -- without anybody saying a word -- it was clear that they didn't have the energy to crawl them. Out on the sidewalk, it was reassessment time.

"It's still early," pointed out a guy in his late 20s with a mangy beard who gave his name only as Cosmo. "Who goes out at 9 p.m. in this neighborhood?"

A good point, but it was met with gloomy silence from the others. Marquez squinted into the night, as if trying to sense any Gonzalez electricity that might be floating in the air.

"It's just not happening here in the Tenderloin," he said. "I'm just not feeling it tonight."