You don't, I don't - but conservatives do, media does, the Church does. See the Berliner Morgenpost article I linked downthread -- he was pursued by the media before, and attacked by a bishop and receiving hate mail afterwards (not to mention the East German local politician who spoke about the Nazi death camps). That you are now in the position to not care about von Beust's and Westerwelle's private life (as in: it won't influence their political fortunes) is a result of how Wowereit's coming-out was taken.

Why in the world would his being gay make him a superior mayor of Berlin?

I agree (with the minor difference that I see the marketing kicking off only after they saw the majority positive reaction).

My position may not be clear to you from my top-level comment, so a little more explicit. I would site myself on the hard-left, in German politics somewhere between the Fundi Greens and the Left Party, so "in Schröder's Third Wayist direction" is not exactly an endorsement from me. Media politics and celebrity politics is another thing shared with Schröder (who for example made use of public appearances of his fourth wife in First-Lady style). As for his real political achievements, again, a "not-at-all hard-leftist austerity programme" and making the Left Party bear all the risk for the latter aren't exactly endorsements from my quarter.

That said, I'm still conflicted. There's that I see more significance to Wowi's coming-out than you do, and I believe he has the potential for a better chancellor than Schröder, who, despite his record, might be more progressive (because of being less beholden to some old allegiances than his North/Western German counterparts).

_{*Lunatic*, n.
One whose delusions are out of fashion.}