Scott Wiener wants me to talk to him. The email his campaign sent to me says so.
The email, received this past weekend, calls for people to suggest topics of importance that the congressional candidate should address, noting “It’s easy to get pulled into every flashpoint, every headline, every viral clip. I hear from the loud voices often – but I can’t let our movement be defined by them.” It then says that no issue is off the table, and lists examples such as “Public safety. Housing. Venezuela. Minnesota. San Francisco. . . . Whatever you want to talk about.”
Interesting that Israel and Gaza weren’t mentioned.
Now, it’s unlikely Wiener wrote the letter, but it’s his campaign, and it says something about the race he’s running. And the controversy it ignores says something about the state of what passes for the moderate Democratic movement in San Francisco.
Briefly, on Jan. 7, at a forum moderated by the Bay Area Reporter’s Cynthia Laird and Mission Local’s Joe Eskenazi before about 1,000 people, the candidates in the race to succeed Nancy Pelosi in the U.S. House of Representatives — District 1 Supervisor Connie Chan, State Senator Scott Wiener, and millionaire Saikat Chakrabarti — fielded various questions. But during the lightning round, they were asked, “Is Israel committing genocide in Gaza?”
Chan and Chakrabarti both held up signs (the lightning round schtick) saying “yes,” but Wiener didn’t hold up “yes” or “no” signs, drawing jeers from the crowd.
Like Spock being asked “How do you feel?” during his rehabilitation on Vulcan, Wiener looked like he’d rather be somewhere far away than on stage answering that question.
In a video posted to social media after the forum, Wiener then made sure that anyone who didn’t get mad at him at the forum got mad at him after the forum, but explaining that he did, indeed, think “Israel has committed genocide in Gaza.” (So why not hold up that sign?) He said he hesitated to label it as genocide because “it is so fraught and raw in the Jewish community because of the Holocaust.”
But a firestorm ensued among people who in many cases were strong supporters of Wiener. And his critics had a field day. The New York Post, home of the understated headline, topped its article on the controversy with “Leather-clad Dem buckles to anti-Israel hecklers, calls Gaza ‘genocide’.”
Why can’t a city of hundreds of thousands of people field multiple moderate Democrats for an important race?
Wiener’s refusal to answer the question at the forum wasn’t the problem (I’d argue that it was actually the correct thing to do; he should have said, “This is far too complex and emotionally charged issue to make a yes-or-no question” and dealt with it later, which he kind of did). The problem is that the terminology serves no purpose except to raise tensions and emotionally harm people.
Whether Israel’s actions fall under the official definition of genocide is kind of irrelevant to the congressional race, because all three candidates oppose Israel’s actions in Gaza. Wiener, like many Jews, has been very critical of how the Israeli government waged its war against Hamas.
What it did do was place Wiener in a bad position, one that angered lots of people but that did nothing to solve the violence in the Middle East. The troubling conclusion would be that he shifted his position to appease the anti-Israel progressive left; that would not represent a wise political move (they aren’t going to vote for him anyway).
But there’s reason to doubt it will have done him lasting harm. Again, the people who hated him before will continue to hate him, and — as more than one commentator has asked — where else are his supporters going to go?
Nowhere to go
Nowhere to go is right. The moderates do not have a deep bench in San Francisco.
As the conservative Commentary notes, “Wiener is a … progressive.” Yet, Wiener is the moderate standard bearer in this race. Why can’t a city of hundreds of thousands of well-educated people field multiple moderate Democrats for an important race? Do Wiener’s moderate credentials rely solely on his YIMBY legislation?
Like just about every journalist in the Bay Area, I’ve interviewed Wiener a number of times over the years. What I always appreciated is that he took every question and answered it; I never had him duck a question, even when his answer might be unpopular. He always seemed very sure of who he was and what his positions were. That leads me to think that he was being honest in explaining his turmoil over the use of the genocide label, and that in the post-forum days he tried to explain his change of mind. But despite what every commentator thinks when they say the American people want authenticity in their politicians, I don’t think Wiener will gain at all from this bit of authenticity.
But, again, what are the other options for moderates?
It was late in the 2025 NFL season that the Green Bay Packers looked like they were serious contenders for the NFC North title. They were narrowing the gap between themselves and the first-place Chicago Bears, but late-season injuries led to big losses; notably Packer quarterback Jordan Love’s concussion kept him out of two games, including a lopsided 41-24 loss to Baltimore. Love’s backups did their best, but the momentum was gone, as were the games and, following one final wildcard game, the season.
Compare that to previous years, such as when Packers quarterback Don Majkowski suffered an ankle injury in a 1992 game, and his backup stepped up — a young man named Brett Favre. And when Favre left after 16 seasons, his backup also became a superstar quarterback — Aaron Rodgers. And when Rodgers left many years later, there was yet another talented young quarterback to take his place: Jordan Love. And when Jordan Love got injured, the Packers’ crazy good luck with quarterbacks had run dry.
Just the right argument to make to a San Francisco 49ers audience, right? That’s why I’m not running for Congress.