www.sacbee.com/content/politics/story/10161016p-11081762c.html
By Laura Mecoy -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PDT Wednesday, July 28, 2004
BOSTON - San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom is so popular among Democratic National Convention delegates that tickets to a party honoring him Tuesday night were virtually unobtainable.
Even California's Democratic Party chairman had to personally appeal to Newsom for an invitation for his daughter.
But for all his cachet among the party's elite, most Americans watching the Democratic convention won't get to see the 36-year-old mayor who catapulted onto the national stage by granting marriage licenses to same-sex couples in February.
"I can only imagine if I spoke, what an opportunity that would be for Fox News" to criticize the Democrats, Newsom said.
As the Democrats meet in the only state in the nation where gay marriage is legal, party leaders are keeping Newsom and the issue of same-sex weddings out of the spotlight to avoid alienating swing voters in critical battleground states.