Sorry for not reporting this bit of hilarity last night. Meg Whitman, the former chief executive officer of eBay, officially declared her intent to run for governor of California. Whitman is running as a Republican—but did not register as a Republican until 2007.
The move by the billionaire businesswoman—establishment of an "exploratory" committee – likely sets up what's expected to be an expensive 17-month auction between herself and Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner in the 2010 Republican primary.
Whitman is pitching herself as a financial expert in tough economic times.
"California faces challenges unlike any other time in its history – a weak and faltering economy, massive job losses, and an exploding state budget deficit," Whitman said in a statement. "California is better than this, and I refuse to stand by and watch it fail."
The 52-year old is a political rookie who has never held elective office. If elected, she would be the first female governor in California history.
Whitman is likely to be re-packaged as a centrist, technology- and business-friendly replacement for Gov. Schwarzenegger but that would be misleading. In the primaries, Whitman first supported anti-gay right-wing technocrat Mitt Romney and then John McCain. And while most Silicon Valley Republicans are more concerned with lower taxes than right-wing screeds such as gay marriage, Whitman was a major supporter of Proposition 8, California's recently passed ban on same-sex marriages. The former eBay executive was only one of 3 likely Republican gubernatorial candidates to support the ban.
Tech industry blog Vallleywag reports gay and lesbian eBay employees, "an influential group within the company, are especially furious at her betrayal." Henry Gomez, the former eBay communications honcho who's serving as an advisor to Whitman, tells Gawker that Whitman's stand "was 'a personal issue.' Many gay eBay employees agree. They see Whitman's stance as a deeply personal betrayal. As the CEO of a company in a liberal industry in a liberal region, Whitman never gave a hint that she didn't value gay and lesbian employees' relationships."
Whitman's business and technology credentials are also being mocked. "The new fees eBay pushed on sellers have tarnished her image as a friend of small businesses, " Vallleywag reports. "And her failure to secure key domain names, like meg2010.com, combined with her failed attempt to reclaim them from the man who registered them, hardly makes her seem tech-savvy."
Whitman Launches 2010 Bid for Governor [Sac Bee]
Heavily-Vaselined Ex eBay CEO Running for Gov [VW]
Oh, please make her go away.
Posted by: Derrick from Philly | 10 February 2009 at 12:20
This is going to be a weird election to say the least, the one thing about her is that she will have the full force of the Mormon church behind her since that's the basis of her so called "faith," and, we saw with Prop 8 just how powerful they are.
Then with the Democrats, Jerry Brown and Gavin Newsome, talk about a potential odd match up, although, I don't think Newsome can win the whole state.
I still think that Di Fi would be the best choice, although she has leaned so much to the right in recent years, who knows where she even really stands on gay rights other than when pressed.
Posted by: Luther | 10 February 2009 at 12:31