"SACRAMENTO, Calif. � Chartered jets that offer "white glove service," fancy fundraisers in Beverly Hills and beyond, and enough high-priced political consultants to fill an auditorium."
"Those are a few of billionaire Meg Whitman's favorite things as she carries out her remarkably lavish campaign for California governor."
"Whitman's top political consultant, Mike Murphy, makes $90,000 a month. A crew of videographers and the former White House photographer chronicle her stops around the Golden State. She bought an entire TV channel at the host hotel during the state convention while hiring consultants from Florida to Los Angeles to help her blanket the airwaves with a never-ending stream of advertising."
"The former eBay CEO has spent more than $81 million so far – $71 million from her personal fortune. And if she wins the GOP nomination on Tuesday, it marks only the halfway point in her quest for office."
"Whitman or her Republican rival, state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, will face Democratic candidate Jerry Brown and a host of deep-pocketed, Democratic-aligned special interests in what surely will be a record-setting spending spree."
"Whitman's outsize spending, detailed in her recently filed campaign fundraising report, stands in stark contrast to her austerity plans for California should she win the primary and get elected in November to replace Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger."
"She is promising to dramatically cut state spending, eliminate 40,000 state workers and bring a "common sense" budgeting approach to California."
"The California Nurses Association, which supports Brown in the governor's race, has already seized on the irony, launching a campaign to stop Whitman from "crowning herself Queen of California." The union has hired an actress to portray 'Queen Meg' outside some of Whitman's appearances."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/04/m... **
This is outrageous on so many levels. Whitman has pretty much refused interviews and takes no questions at campaign appearances. She has taken on a strategy of avoiding the press and the voters altogether, preferring instead to blanket the state with what amounts to a propaganda campaign to mislead the voters as to who she is. She has refused appearances with Jerry Brown, her democratic opponent if she wins the GOP primary, and all other appearances where she may be questioned on the issues. Preferring instead to indoctrinate the voters through light and fluffy (and phony) campaign ads.
Its estimated that Whitman will spend $119 million when all is said and done. And yet this is someone who is saying that they will restrict state spending and cut 40,000 state workers, among other things. if she really wanted to help the state she could have just contributed that $119 million. But no, "NutMeg" wants to make CA safe for corporate predators and others to continue to rape the state of all its public resources.
A heckler at a recent Whitman rally asked her why she won't answer any questions. The blimp Governor Christie of NJ had the nerve to get in this man's face and accuse him of being the "kind of person that divides this country." Never mind the fact that what this man was doing was what they told the teabaggers to do at last years health care town hall meetings. But that was okay -- for them. The hypocrisy is just staggering.
I hope Californians don't let Whitman buy the governorship. If she succeeds, that will be the model going forward; the rich will just buy public office, and spend the entire campaigns flying around on luxury jets and asking for the grey Poupon before walking into office.
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Monday, September 27th 2010 at 6:02PM
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