SanFran 'values' new GOP watchword

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SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 3 (UPI) -- Democrats haven't won the U.S. House yet, but the phrase "San Francisco values" is already popping up on the Internet and in newspapers.

The San Francisco Chronicle says the phrase will become a permanent part of the media conversation if Democrats win the House. GOP strategist and University of California-Berkeley political science instructor Dan Schnur told the paper, "If (House Minority Leader) Nancy Pelosi becomes speaker of the House, it will be on the Republicans' list of top five talking points every week."

"San Francisco values," as seen by the GOP, means extreme liberal positions on gay rights, immigration, taxes and Iraq.

FOX News commentator Bill O'Reilly and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, and House Majority Leader Dennis Hasert have recently used the phrase, without saying what those values are. But the Augusta (Ga.) Chronicle, in endorsing a Republican, said if the Democrats win, "Pelosi will be speaker and her far left San Francisco values -- gay marriage, cutting and running from Iraq, coddling terrorists, raising taxes, amnesty for illegals -- will become the House agenda."

Schnur says the phrase is something the GOP is using to fire up supporters. "It's pretty much the same thing as calling someone an 'ACLU liberal' or a 'Teddy Kennedy liberal'," he said.