San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom declares that his city “is going to be the first city in America to achieve universal health care access.” Meanwhile, in the LA Times: “After tough negotiations with powerful teachers unions, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa struck a compromise today that would give him significant sway over the troubled Los Angeles Unified School District but falls short of the total takeover he had sought.”

[Update:] Newsom’s hometown paper raves:

If Newsom is successful in tackling the political hot potato that is universal health care in a city where others have tried and failed, it could have sweeping political consequences for a politician best known outside San Francisco for allowing same-sex marriages. It has the potential to catapult him back into the national spotlight and broaden his political appeal.

Or, to use Dan Schnur’s delightful and accurate formulation, this could help Newsom with the vote east of the Bay Bridge.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 21st, 2006 at 5:51 pm and is filed under Blog, Villaraigosa. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.