I see they haven’t told of her and of Chinese laborers working for her for 13-15 hrs a day for a pittance when she was CEO of StrideRight—or of the reporter who went with her to the plant in China and saw young kids putting glue on insoles with bare hands and who reported how the atmosphere was nearly unbreathable due to little or no ventilation. Same thing for her stewardship of Keds. And why was a Vietnamese woman put up for sale on E-Bay for 3 days under her stewardship wtihout anyone finding out about it? Ms Whitman, you may have a gazillion bucks but you need to answer some questions. These are legitimate questions you need to answer Ms Whitman.

Here’s a quote:

"Prior to eBay, Meg was the General Manager of Hasbro Inc.’s Preschool Division. In this position, Meg was responsible for global management and marketing…"

Young workers in China who make holiday toys for Disney, Hasbro and RC2… report that their bodies are often covered with red welts from the bug bites, which can easily become infected if the wounds are scratched… Workers are at the factory 93 hours a week, toiling 13 and a half-hour shifts, seven days a week…

 

— National Labor Committee Report

And another:

— Another National Labor Committee Report 

And you gotta love her nuanced position on gay marriage, which boils down to semantics:

"She voted for Proposition 8, and to her that was a matter of her faith and her personal convictions. She does believe the term "marriage" should belong to the union of a man and a woman. But that said, she is absolutely a strong supporter of civil unions and it’s evident by her leadership at eBay. It was tremendously inclusive in that regard."

And Whitman’s "faith?" She’s a Presbyterian! When I told a friend who is a Presbyterian minister in a large Southern city with a large Presbyterian population she was claming Presbyertianism as her rationale for opposing gay marriage, he howled with laughter.

Whitman has a major obstacle in California: She is a Republican. The party is down to its lowest registration in history: 31 percent. Young voters are staying away in droves. In December, California GOP strategist Tony Quinn summed up the state of his party: "The California Republican Party is dead. Call the undertaker, haul away the corpse." 

And:

California Republicans are at the lowest point in the history of the state. And they will go lower, as elderly white voters pass on. Sometime in the next decade, [independent] registrants will pass Republicans.

Maybe the GOP will come to its senses, but it is very unlikely. Republicans hold not a single district other than those gerrymandered for them in the 2001 redistricting, and the gerrymander will disappear in 2011, thanks to Proposition 11. Perhaps return to an open primary would allow Republicans to nominate candidates who can still win outside gerrymandered districts. But count on the myopic state GOP leadership to fight to keep the primary closed so they can control a dying party of geriatric voters.

Whitman’s stance on gay marriage is political, not principled. Her problem is this: She cannot win the general election without attracting 20 - 30 percent of independent and Democratic voters (at least), but  independent voter can’t vote in the GOP primary, so to get to the general, she has to win a majority of the 31 percent of hard-core (read: "anti-gay, anti-choice") right wing Republicans.

Whitman is also pro-choice, a fact that will also hurt her with the GOP base and makes her and fellow liberal Republican Steve Poizner vulnerable to a hard-right candidate like Reps. Dan Lungren or Tom McClintock, who would then have not a snowball’s chance in the general.

Whitman and Poizner know that they’re running the risk of replaying the campaign of the last liberal Republican who ran for governor, former LA Mayor Richard Riordan.In that campaign, Democrats ran ads detailing Riordan’s pro-choice record during the Republican Primary, which caused the GOP base to vote decidely for a right-wing extremist who was easily trounced by the Democratic candidate in the general. 

Rudi G—another amazing post! 

 I don’t mind crossing party lines to vote for the best candidate, but her stance on Prop 8 means that I won’t be crossing the lines to vote for her.  I will never cast a vote for someone who thinks its okay to discriminate against gay people, period. 

Why would she want to sink herself into the California cesspool? 

California, my home state, has skyrocketing taxes, skyrocketing welfare dockets, and businesses fleeing the state, along with the most productive people.  We personally know 8 couples who have left the state after their employer moved or they got sick of the traffic, and taxes.

My husband was staying with a friend in Santa Monica last week.  At 2am he heard fire from an AK-47 from the direction of the public golf course.  His host reassurred him that it happens almost every night, and the cops don’t even bother to come out anymore it’s so prevalent.   

The state has gone the way of DC, Detroit, Philly, and NYC in the 70’s: dangerous, over-taxed, hostile to business, with dirty failing schools. 

Actually Rudy was able to turn NYC around, but I think California is hopeless because too many people want the government to be Santa Claus. 

On April 1st the sales tax in California will increase.  In my county, the sales tax will reach almost 10%.  The unemployment rate for the State is now at 10.2% and still rising.  The State income tax has risen as part of the deal to balance the 2009/10 fiscal budget.  All State offices are asked to reduce their budgets…..no exceptions, again part of the budgetary deal.

Can the State turn itself around?  Not without the help of business.  This is still a very attractive State for businesses but the move to place more of the burden for paying for State government on the business community is having a negative effect.  Businesses are leaving California and that is a sure sign of weakness.  Is it a mass exodus?  Not yet.

Meg Whitman will very probably win the gubernatorial race.  One of her opponents will be San Francisco Mayor, Gavin Newsom.  However, nothing is going to improve in California until the Legislature is taken away from the Democratic party.  They can spend money as fast as any teenager and having spent all the money in California, they are now looking at the federal treasury.  These politicians have to be voted out of office.  I only hope Meg Whitman will not be a stand alone candidate and that her election will have whatever is the female equivalent of "coat-tails".