CALLING ALL GREENS

Your party can make progress without the benefit of Ralph Nader fucking it up for the rest of us.

Case in point: Green Party candidate Matt Gonzalez is polling ahead of the previously favored Gavin Newsom in the San Francisco mayoral campaign.

A media-sponsored poll released tonight finds that San Francisco mayoral contender Matt Gonzalez leads presumed frontrunner Gavin Newsom by seven points, a greater margin than the same outfit found on Nov. 14.

In automated telephone polling conducted from Nov. 22 through Nov. 24, some 52 percent of participants said they supported Gonzalez compared to 45 percent for Newsom and 3 percent undecided.

The questioning mostly took place before Newsom's endorsement by and partnership with former rival Angela Alioto became public Monday.

The survey involved 543 registered voters who described themselves as "certain'' to cast a ballot in the Dec. 9 runoff election. It was sponsored by television station KPIX and conducted by the New York-based SurveyUSA.

We'll see how the Alioto endorsement plays out, they have a lot of pull with the SF pop. Still, if you're polling above 50% in a head-to-head at this point, things look good for you.