Time's 'man of the year': Hitler 1938, Stalin 1942, Bush 2004

After winning the mayoral position against third party candidate Matt Gonzalez, who got 49% of the vote, Mayor Newsom is impressing the national press.

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(12-20) 17:26 PST SAN FRANCISCO (AP) --

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom may be busy tackling his city's homeless problem and budget deficit these days, but his decision to open City Hall to same-sex couples seeking marriage licenses is still resonating beyond the Golden Gate.

Time Magazine named the 37-year-old Democrat to its list of "People Who Matter," a roster that included John Kerry, Ariel Sharon, Nancy and Ron Reagan, Kobe Bryant, Martha Stewart, Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, Afghan President Hamid Karzai, and the television show "Desperate Housewives."

The designation followed Newsom's selection as "Person of the Year" by the editors of Planet Out, a San Francisco-based media company that operates gay-oriented Web sites around the world. The award recognizes the individual who most profoundly impacted the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

The Advocate, a national gay and lesbian newsmagazine, also tapped Newsom for its "People of the Year" cover tribute along with fellow mayors Jason West, of New Paltz, N.Y., and Jason Shields of Nyack, N.Y. West followed Newsom's lead and married 25 same-sex couples, while Shields and his partner joined nine other gay couples in suing the state of New York for the right to marry.

Although Time assistant managing editor Lisa Beyer told CNN that the magazine considered making Newsom its "Person of the Year," that honor ended up going to President Bush, the man Newsom credits with escalating the anti-gay rhetoric that inspired his move.

The magazine summed up the maverick mayor's action, which came a scant five weeks after he took office, this way: "After letting 4,000 same-sex couples marry despite California's own ban, San Francisco's mayor was a star of the left. But by Election Day, when 11 other states barred gay marriage, many blamed Newsom for unwittingly helping the President win a second term."

Peter Ragone, the mayor's spokesman, said Monday that Newsom "is nothing but proud of his role in advancing civil rights for millions of people in this country." At the same time, he wants the rest of the world to know he's more than a one-trick pony.

"Here in San Francisco, he is known for his efforts on homelessness and improving quality-of-life issues and making the city more business-friendly, all of which run counter to the liberal issue that people really know," Ragone said. "The truth is, his involvement in same-sex marriage was a small part of his first year in office."

>Full list - mostly people you haven't heard of:

All due respect, if you haven't heard of *most* of these people, you may want to consider reading more -- not because (oooh) Time Magazine said they're important, but I mean, well...they're part of at least one "official" version of history. Those who don't learn from the past...

I'm really trying to be helpful more than condescending here (and I'm not sure I'm succeeding) but oh well.

The only nomination that the White House squatter deserves is be sent to the International Criminal Court to be tried as a War Criminal, for defrauding Congress & U.S. citizens into an Imperialist war of Occupation, killing up to 100,000 Iraqi civilians since March of 2003.

must be totally different.

The award should have gone to Ken Blackwell -- after all, he's the guy who stole the election for Bush.