Saying his “young family” and his day job were bigger priorities, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom pulled out of the race for California governor today.

Newsom was once a Democratic Party rising star. Then:

• his 2004 gay marriage fiat handed right-wingers an issue to organize around, and some say it helped send George Bush to the White house for a second term.
• His marriage to TV news reporter Kimberly Guilfoyle fell apart at the beginning of 2005.
• In early 2007, he admitted an affair with his campaign manager’s wife, and a problem with alcohol.
• His “it’s gonna happen whether you like it or not” taunting was successfully used against gay marriage by Prop. 8 backers in 2008.

And then in April this year he announced he was running for governor. So we see how well that went.

Newsom’s second term as San Francisco mayor lasts through 2011.

The PEW Internet project is supporting the Broadband Census, a project that is being overseen by Drew Clark, a telecommunications and technology journalist. The point is to gather as much information about peoples actual upload and download speeds. From home or work.

The census is open to anyone who wants to participate. So get to IT.

According to the government, San Francisco has 10 service providers. Not sure if that’s truly the case, as I can only think of two, Comcast and AT&T, with very different offerings.

Participate in the census so we can truly see how we stack up to other cities and communities in the U.S.

Photo courtesy of Xamad, Creative Commons.