Kilduff, Marshall: Jim Jones support from politicians

Marshall Kilduff: If you’re a politician and you want to get ahead, you have to be open to a lot of opportunities and options. I think Moscone was not different than a lot of others in that he saw what appeared to be a good-guy operation that was willing to hear his side, wanted to help him, and would really turn out in a finger-snap. Other politicians in San Francisco at the time: Harvey Milk, Willie Brown, certainly national democrats who wanted to bring a candidate through San Francisco; they would all call on Jones to fill a room, to show up at a speech, to make their guy or girl to look really good. To that extent, Moscone’s in a way guilty, but also it’s typical of a kind of outlook or approach. What I found unacceptable was that even after the news stories, and even after a casual interview by a politician to another politician, or any kind of due diligence that these guys could put into this affair, they didn’t care. They stuck with this guy. They continued to defend him. They continued to find him noteworthy or not worth dismissing. He was still in orbit. He was still in their world, and that to me just seemed cynical beyond belief.