At the annual banquet for the San Francisco chapter of the Democratic Party, you would expect Republicans to stay as far away as possible.
But that wasn't the case last night at the Fairmont Hotel. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was already at the hotel rubbing elbows with Tiger Woods and President Bill Clinton, so he accepted an invitation to attend.
After a friendly introduction from former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, the governor could barely get a word out before he was shouted down by boos and hisses from the audience.
You can see what happened for yourself courtesy of K9 Sound by clicking on the Raw Video link. (Warning: There's offensive language in the soundtrack and subtitles.)
State Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, a sometimes standup comic, admits he helped lead the charge. And while what happened could be seen as humorous political theater, some of the shouts are now being called inappropriate.
For example someone yelled, "kiss my fa*got ass."
Brown told the Chronicle, "It was inappropriate to invite anyone in and shout at them, I don't care who it is. It could be George Bush. You don't do that. If you don't wish to be in their presence, then don't invite them."
After Schwarzenegger left, both Ammiano and State Senator Mark Leno continued to tear the man, citing everything from his unwillingness to honor national hero Harvey Milk to vetoing money meant for domestic violence shelters.
Schwarzenegger didn't seem to want to add to the fire this morning. He said in a statement, "Compared to the reaction I got in Hyannis Port when I told the Kennedys I was marrying Maria, it was fantastic."
Ammiano's response to the fact that Schwarzenegger sleeps with a Democrat was hilariously unprintable.
There were no appearances by either San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom or his likely gubernatorial primary opponent, Attorney General Jerry Brown. So both dodged a campaign bullet.
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By the way, Schwarzenegger is currently threatening to veto every bill passed by the Democrat-led state assembly and senate unless they approve his plan to send more water from the northern half of the state to the southern half.
Read more about what happened at SF Gate.
Jackson West note that Bill Clinton, who crafted the noxious "don't ask, don't tell" policy, was savvy enough to stay away.
