I didn't follow the CA race and know little about what went on during Newsom's campaign. But what I just watched felt like a reporter needling him until he got the irritable responses he WANTED. Seriously, that interviewer just seemed a bit shady to me. Must be a history there that I don't know about.

I'm sorry, but this headline is just pushing the media p.o.v that Newsom is acting like a "baby".

That was a tantrum only in the eyes of someone looking to push a titillating story.

No that was a newsworthy bad interview for Gavin. And again, like him or not, that's been textbook Hank Plante since forever. Not the first time Plante has gotten under a pol's thick skin

Back story - for the past year or so Newsom's been catching major flack for attending to his gubernatorial instead of his mayoral business

You ran this under the headline "Newsom Throws Tantrum." I didn't see him throw a tantrum at all. What I saw was a politician irritated that a reporter's line of questioning was leading him and baiting him.

I get sick of how the media blows everything out of proportion, exaggerates, and twists the truth. I generally come to TPM for hard, honest analysis. Please don't go down the road of mischaracterizing events and blowing things out of proportion.

Isn't it likely that a guy who had high hopes for a run for the governorship might be a bit down after having to end his campaign? But Hank Plante (and now TPM) are reading all kinds of nefarious motives into it.

Jeez. it's amazing how people see different things. I too did not see a "tantrum". The reporter was determined to follow a line of questioning that Newsom was simply not interested in and he made that clear from the outset. The reporter wouldn't take a hint and, understandably, Newsom got tired and frustrated. C'mon, TPM you can do better than that!

I think the reporter was hoping to catch Newsom in a "Hiking the Appalachian Trail" story. You know...his press secretary not knowing where he is, so he says Newsom is sick. Of course it all falls apart when it comes out that he was really on a plane to Hawaii. Then the press secretary resigns abruptly?

Smells like a story. Any reporter worth their weight in salt is going to ask about this.

Hank Plante! That guy is good. There are many out there who could learn a thing or two about interviewing a politician by watching Hank Plante.. Yes David Gregory, I am talking to you!

Gavin's behavior was disappointing.

Newsom's behavior is almost always disappointing. Governance here in San Francisco is a friggin' disaster.

CHECK his body language at the beginning of the video - that sly, vixenish (and-yet-tentative!) lowering of his lanky body into the chair using the arms of the chair - almost as a Nautilus machine. Nice!

And nicely absurd.

His response to Plante's question "Where have you been?" which we have all been wondering about? He completely dodges the questions.

Plante is right - it's not just the press that Newsom's been absent from. He missed the China-SF conference? Hello? Pacific Rim investments don't interest you? Investments from China wouldn't have any beneficial effect on this city's deficit? (BTW, have you seen our demographics? What are we, 33% Asian, with one-fifth of the city's population Chinese-American?)

Oh yeah, the Gettys aren't Chinese, why should he care? LMFAO. Charlie don't surf!!!

Then, some of your staff members have left (and trashed you.) Response? "Yeah, I made a lot of changes."

No, this wasn't a tantrum, so the headline is not only misleading, but it demeans the intelligence of TPM readers. I think we all know a tantrum when we see one, and this wasn't it. The reporter mentions the word "tantrum" during the interview, but that's hardly a reason for using it in the headline.

But Newsome has an incredibly thin skin for someone who is trying to get people to vote for him. Sad, really - I thought his stand on same-sex marriage was courageous, and may have sparked, for better or worse, the whole debate over granting equal rights to gays and lesbians (even to the point where an airhead like Carrie Prejean thought that anyone could already choose to get married in this country).

But I tend to agree with the commenter upthread who compared him to Palin - he seems to regard any criticism of him as being personally motivated rather than substantive, and his inability to deal with pesky TV reporters mirrors her inability to continue being governor of Alaska because of all those pesky ethics complaints from Alaskans that she had to deal with. Palin and Newsome probably have similar political futures as well.

I'd just as soon see a pol tell a reporter "That's crap" as see a pasted-on Cantoresque smile and hear the fourteenth repetition of a talking-points evasion.