Green, green, it's green they say, on the far side of Nob Hill

Tuesday is the day of the runoff election to be mayor of San Francisco. The favorite is Gavin Newsom, a business-friendly Democrat who jokes of himself that "Only in San Francisco you can be pro-choice, pro-gay marriage, anti-death penalty, pro-gun control, pro-rent control and be considered a conservative or moderate."

Despite his favored status in the nonpartisan election, the New York Times says "the Democrats are openly nervous." That's because the other place on the ballot belongs to Matt Gonzalez of the Green Party and if there's anything the Donkeys would hate more than losing to Ahnuld, it would be losing to a Green. So they've poured money and resources into the race, including visits by Al Gore, Dianne Feinstein, and Bill Clinton. Newsom's campaign has spent 10 times what Gonzalez's has.

Does Gonzalez have a chance? Well, that depends.

David Binder, a pollster who has conducted some surveys for supporters of Mr. Newsom, said the wild card in the race was the large number of young Gonzalez volunteers. Mr. Gonzalez has a strong following among people in their 20's and 30's, many of whom were active in the antiwar effort this year, but they are generally not reliable voters, Mr. Binder said.

If those voters show up on Election Day, Mr. Gonzalez could win; if not, Mr. Newsom should finish on top with six or eight percentage points to spare, Mr. Binder predicted.

Asked about that prospect, Mr. [Peter] Camejo [of the Green Party] said: "Who knows? Tuesday night is going to be tense."

And significant in any event, because the Dems have been forced to take a Green seriously.

Update December 10: Newsom won by the predicted six-point margin, 53-47. (Which, when you think about it, is actually with only three points to spare in a two-way race.) But the fact that Gonzalez got 47% of the vote in a city with 3% Green registration is a very potent result. Congratulations to him.