A campaign insider who's worked behind the scenes on multiple major San Francisco races recently pulled back the curtain, and the picture isn't pretty. According to this operative — bound by NDAs but clearly fed up — candidates who publicly preach compassion and equity will privately trash outsiders with lines like "he's not from here," obsess over optics instead of policy, and enthusiastically back obviously bought politicians as long as they look progressive enough for the electorate.

None of this should surprise you.

San Francisco politics has long operated as a closed loop — donor networks, insider circles, and social status hierarchies that would make any country club blush. The same crowd that mocks conservatives for gatekeeping will ruthlessly gatekeep who's "acceptable" based on wealth, neighborhood, connections, and whether you fit the curated aesthetic. Expensive buzzwords and Pride flags on campaign materials don't automatically make someone progressive. They make someone marketable.

As one SF resident put it bluntly: "Hey, I'll have you know we put the P in Performative, thank you very much."

Another local nailed the deeper dynamic: "The term you're looking for is Limousine Liberals. For high-level social issues, they generally agree with progressives — but the moment you dig into specifics or anything that might affect their bottom line, they tend to go the way of the conservative."

That's the real game. On the big, visible, cost-free issues — the ones that get you applause at fundraisers — SF's political class leans left with gusto. But when it comes to housing development in their neighborhoods, tax increases on their portfolios, or accountability for the billions poured into homelessness programs with minimal results? Suddenly the progressive instincts evaporate.

The insider's most cutting observation deserves repeating: SF liberals and conservatives operate from the exact same instincts — just with different branding and fonts.

We'd add one thing: at least conservatives are generally upfront about whose interests they're protecting. In San Francisco, the self-interest comes wrapped in a recycled tote bag with an equity slogan on it. And that dishonesty — that gap between public virtue and private maneuvering — might actually be worse than the old-fashioned kind.

The voters deserve better than performative politics. They deserve candidates who are as progressive behind closed doors as they are on their mailers.