Why is it that those who live in glass houses always throw the first stone—or any stone, for that matter? This came to mind when I read the Chronicle editorial characterizing Supervisor Chris Daly as, “a civic embarrassment.” Given the state of journalistic practice at that paper, one might think the editors would avoid that particular stone. To whom, and for what is Daly an embarrassment? To Gavin Newsom? To the Golden Gate Restaurant Association?

If what offends so egregiously is Daly’s guerrilla, in-your-face political style, well, excuse me: In the current political culture, one can hardly expect tearoom discourse or lofty rhetoric. Democracy as practiced in our republic is a sweaty, noisy, raucous spectacle, as it should be. That’s part of the fun.

What is not fun is watching this process hit rock-bottom, subjecting the voter to the gentry’s equivalent of identity politics. For weeks, Daly endured a smear campaign propagated by the Chronicle and financed by the boys downtown. The attack was composed of spin, personal assaults, and outright lies. Flyers were circulated accusing Daly of everything from being a loose cannon to a raving wacko on the far-left fringe. Daly is a maverick incumbent who is independent and frequently in opposition to the Mayor and his agenda. Daly unapologetically serves the interests of his predominantly low-income constituents to make sure they have a say in the decision-making process. During his tenure he has been a staunch supporter of homeless people, poor families, and LGBT and AIDS issues. He supports campaign contribution reform and is a progressive. He rides a bike to work.

This ugly strategy levied against Daly could be used against anyone. One could make reference to the Mayor’s youthful taste in women or criticize his hair, suggesting that his “do” sucks. Of course, these personal slurs are completely irrelevant to Newsom’s political agenda and his efficacy as Mayor, and do nothing more than divert attention from what is really important—the discussion of issues, issues, issues. Gentry identity politics is designed to distract voters from the issues—to encourage the voters to identify with the personality and personal proclivities of the politicians, rather than their positions on immediate and very important political issues, such as eminent domain.

The excessive calumny is, of course, a red herring: The real deal going on behind the contentious struggle between the Mayor and Daly is about the configuration of the Board of Supervisors. Newsom’s attempt to unseat Daly and to replace him with an ally would have put the Mayor in a better position to control the Board and strengthened his veto power.

But Daly was not the only San Franciscan attacked this election season. Many of the assaults on Daly (sponsored, of course, not directly by his challengers, but by well-funded business interest groups) used images of homeless people in an extremely negative light. Several flyers distributed throughout District 6 and beyond portrayed presumably homeless people accompanied by suggestions that they were dirty, or were part of the problem. The most offensive paired a man sleeping on a sidewalk (one hopes that the funders were legally savvy enough to obtain his permission for the photograph) with a pile of feces and a bottle of urine.