January 6, 2009

Wicked Witch of the West to Run for Governor of Oz

Let me put it this way: I’d vote to put Ronald Reagan back in the governor’s mansion first — as he was, or in his current condition:

EBay’s Whitman appears set to run for governor

Meg Whitman, the guiding force behind eBay for a decade, is running for California governor, according to sources close to the Internet giant’s former CEO.

Whitman, who rocketed onto the national political stage in 2008 as a high-profile backer of Republican presidential contenders Mitt Romney and John McCain—

And an Anti-Gay to the Nth Degree — don’t forget her very public support for Proposition 8.

—plans to make a formal announcement soon that she is seeking to become the GOP’s nominee to replace termed-out Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2011.

On Dec. 31, Whitman resigned from eBay’s board of directors as well as two other corporate boards. One close associate called the moves “a clear signal” that she is running for governor and does not want “her corporate activities to interfere.”

The source asked not to be named because Whitman, 52, wants to make a formal announcement in four to six weeks. But he added that Whitman, who has been openly considering a run for months, made her final decision after consulting with her family over the holidays.

Despite her wealth and ties to the eBay brand, Whitman is almost certain to face State Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner of Los Gatos, a tech-multimillionare Republican who has been preparing a run for governor for more than a year.

Lemme tell you about Steve Poizner. Steve Poizner has been running for, or making noises about running for, anything for more years than I care to remember, sinking $5 million of his own money into a failed run against Assemblymember Ira Ruskin (my assemblyguy, a good guy, and an actual Democrat) in 2004 (during which his slate mailers made it very, very difficult to tell Poizner was a Republican — gee, I wonder why?).

Maybe Poizner doesn’t realize it, but those of us who don’t like him believe he’s never done anything politically in this state that wasn’t a mere stepping stone to the governorship.

I don’t like Poizner. I don’t like anything about him, and I wish he’d retire and just have a grand old time living off the brazillions he made from the sale of SnapTrak to Qualcomm. Preferably back in his home state of Texas, so I wouldn’t have to hear his name again.

And you know what? If all the Democratic and Green contenders vanished off the face of the earth, and it came down to being forced to choose between Poizner and Whitman, I’d choose Poizner.

That’s how I feel about Meg Whitman.

Anyway…

Former GOP Congressman Tom Campbell who lives in San Jose, also has formed an exploratory campaign. And should she beat them, she’s likely to face a well-known Democrat; among those who have expressed interest in the Democratic nomination are Attorney General Jerry Brown, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and perhaps even U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein.

Hella hard to say how Newsom or Brown would do. Feinstein, that old corporate DINO, would probably beat any Republican. (I can’t see myself voting for Feinstein for so much as town jester, but if push came to shove…)

Whitman spokesman Henry Gomez said she resigned from the corporate boards of eBay, Procter & Gamble and DreamWorks Animation “for personal reasons. She wanted to clear her calendar of obligations in the new year. In terms of her political ambitions, I cannot comment.” …

More at the link… including the note that “Forbes estimated her 2007 net worth at $1.4 billion.” Why can’t these brazillionaires just shut up, go away, and enjoy the spoils of screwing their customers? (Not that all billionaires are evil; in Whitman’s case, you can ask longtime eBay sellers how they feel about eBay’s business practices. While you’re at it, you should ask the Australian government, too.)

Also of interest is mention of Whitman registering as a Repug only in 2007, and her “spotty voting record,” which her spokesman indicates was a result of her being too busy making money and raising a family to vote.

Reminds me of how Sonny Bono never registered to vote until he was 53 years old — and did so only because he had to at least be registered in order to run for mayor of Palm Springs. (And if you don’t know the idiotic reason he ran at all, read this — but be prepared for a concussion when your hand involuntarily smacks itself against your forehead.)

It also pisses me off that a woman, any woman, would use the excuse of raising a family for anything, especially voting, which commands all of about ten minutes of one’s time every two years. If you want to devote your life to raising kids, more power to you — but don’t you dare add fuel to the idea that women can’t walk and chew gum at the same time, and all we’re good for is staying home to cook and pop out babies.

Of course, Whitman ran eBay while she was raising her kids, but that’s not going to mean much for the Neanderthals jonesing for any excuse to say, “See? Women just aren’t suited for politics. They were designed to stay home and have babies.”

Christ on a trailer hitch. Could Meg Whitman do, or be, anything more antithetical to progressivism?

Let me think… Um, no.

Posted by: Sapphocrat

Permalink | |