Tag: Meg Whitman

CA Gov: Despite What You Heard on ‘Meet the Press,’ Meg Whitman Did Not Win Registered Independents

Jon Ponder

Calbuzz is one of the go-to sites for straight-shooting journalists’ insight into California politics. Earlier this month, they nailed the campaign of Republican Meg Whitman — who lost by a whopping 13 points on Nov. 2 — for what they referred to as post-election “bullshit” coming from the campaign’s top operative, Mike Murphy:

[When] we saw meathead David Gregory interviewing our friend Mike Murphy, the $90,000-a-month campaign guru for Meg “Biggest Loser” Whitman, on “Press the Meat” the other day, we felt compelled to get up off the floor and say something.

“We got beat and, you know, I ran the campaign, and I take responsibility for it,” Murphy said, at least acknowledging that he had been in the neighborhood. But then came excuse, No. 1: “It’s a very blue state and it’s getting bluer. As the red, you know, wave kind of went one way, there was a bit of a blue riptide coming the other way.”

And then, excuse No. 2: “CEO candidates who are doing kind of a tough medicine message . . . Meg and Carly Fiorina in California, they weren’t buying it. So we just couldn’t get there. We could win the Republicans, win the independents, but in California if you don’t win a lot of Democrats — you don’t win and we did not.”

Whoa there, big fella. “Win the independents?” If Meg and Carly had actually won the actual independents, they would be governor- and senator-elect.

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Two New Polls Show Dems Pulling Away in California

Jon Ponder

Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire:

A new Suffolk University poll in California shows Jerry Brown (D) with an eight point lead over Meg Whitman (R) in the race for governor, 50 percent to 42 percent.

In the U.S. Senate race, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D) leads by nine points over Carly Fiorina (R), 52 percent to 43 percent…

A new Public Policy Polling survey also finds Boxer leading by a 52 percent to 43 percent margin and finds Brown leading 53 percent to 42 percent.

Palin to Do RNC Fundraiser in California, But Given Her 69% Disapproval Among Inds, GOP’s Whitman, Fiorina Will Be No-Shows

Jon Ponder
Palin, Whitman and Fiorina
Palin, Whitman and Fiorina

Sarah Palin will headline a fundraiser in California for the cash-strapped, deficit-spending Republican National Committee on Oct. 16. But with Palin viewed unfavorably by well over two-thirds of California’s independent voters, the state’s two top GOP candidates are sending regrets. It’s likely gubernatorial nominee Meg Whitman, who just can’t seem to find good household help these days, will be cleaning toilets in her mansion. And the U.S. Senate candidate Carly Fiorina will likely be washing her hair.

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Meg Before Scandal: ‘You Know What Drives Me Crazy about Career Politicians? They Refuse to Accept Accountability’

Jon Ponder

“But you know what drives me crazy about career politicians? They refuse to accept accountability … If I am governor of California, you can hold me accountable for the things that I say, the things I do, and i think that’s going to be one of the most important changes we have to make in politics. Politicians have got to be accountable…”

“…So I wouldn’t support a path to legalization. We have got to get our arms around what is a very pressing problem … We do have to hold employers accountable for hiring only documented workers, and we do have to enforce that law…”

“…Guess what? The cost of illegal immigration is significant in our budget, and if we can hold employers accountable for hiring documented workers, I think ultimately that will be a budget positive. We’re going to have to work with our federal law enforcement, as well as local law enforcement to enforce this. Illegal immigration is just that. It is illegal. And we have to stop the magnet. Most illegal immigrants come here for the jobs, so we have to go to the source and make it — and you know enforce the laws on the books. We are a rule of law and I think it’s very important to enforce it.”

– Statements made by billionaire Republican candidate for governor of California Meg Whitman during her debate with Democrat Jerry Brown on Tuesday, Sept. 28. The next day it was revealed that Whitman had employed an undocumented worker as a maid for nine years. As the scandal has unfolded, Whitman has behaved like the worst stereotype of a politician. She has blamed everyone — the employment agency from whom she hired the maid, the maid herself and even the Brown campaign — but herself. And she has been caught red-handed misstating facts. Her claim that she and her husband did not know the maid was undocumented was disproved with documentation by the maid’s lawyer.

Dems’ California Firewall Expands – Brown, Boxer Both Up by 9 Points in CNN Poll

Jon Ponder

The new CNN poll finds leads for Democrats in the California races for governor and senator.

In the governor’s race, Democrat Jerry Brown, the state’s attorney general and former governor, leads billionaire former eBay executive Meg Whitman, 52 percent to 43 percent among likely voters. Brown has a 13 point advantage among registered voters, 52 percent to 39 percent.

Sen. Barbara Boxer, seeking a fourth term, leads former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, by the same ratio, 52 percent to 43 percent. Among registered voters, Boxer’s lead widens to 19 points, 56 percent to 37 percent.

This is the first poll in which either candidate for governor has been above 50 percent in recent weeks. It is Boxer’s second 50-plus percent result.

The CNN poll is also the fourth consecutive poll that shows the Democrats ahead in California.

CA Gov: Meg Whitman’s Housekeeper Said to Have ‘Explosive’ Allegations, Has Hired Attorney Gloria Allred

Jon Ponder

photo-meg-whitman-handHere’s some news breaking in the California governor’s race that is doubly intriguing because it is not coming from the political press — it’s from the Sunset Strip-based gossip-on-steroids outfit, TMZ:

The former housekeeper for Meg Whitman — the Republican candidate for Governor of California — is about to make “controversial and explosive allegations about her former employer,” TMZ has learned.

We’re told the housekeeper has lawyered up with none other than Gloria Allred. The housekeeper and Allred will hold a news conference today in Gloria’s office at 11 AM PT, “to tell how she suffered as a long-time, Latina household employee in Meg Whitman’s home.

We’re told the housekeeper will be filing a legal claim against Ms. Whitman.

From what we’re hearing, the disclosures could have a significant impact on the campaign and possibly the election.

If the allegations involved anger issues at Casa Whitman, they would not be the first.

Update 2:24 p.m.: The issue turned out to the fact that the maid was an undocumented alien when she worked for the Whitman-Harsh household for nine years. This comes one day after Whitman’s debate with Democrat Jerry Brown, during which she called for tough sanctions against employers of undocumented workers:

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Dems Building Firewall in California? Brown, Boxer Leading – U.S. House Generic Poll Gives Dems 13 Point Advantage Statewide

Jon Ponder

In the race for California governor, Democrat Jerry Brown, the state’s attorney general and former governor, has led billionaire former eBay executive Meg Whitman slightly in three out of four recent polls and the fourth was a tie. In the Senate race, Democrat Barbara Boxer has seen her lead over the Republican candidate, former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, grow incrementally in three recent polls.

Results from the new Los Angeles Times/USC poll out today show that, in the race for governor, Brown is ahead by 5 points, 49 percent to 44 percent. Whitman has spent $120 million of her money on her campaign, so far, while Brown has only spent what amounts to a fraction of that.

While generic polls on House races nationwide show the parties even or Republicans a few points ahead, in California Dems lead in the generic by 13 points, with 51 percent for Democrats and 38 percent for Republicans.

The same poll found that Boxer’s lead over Fiorina appears to be expanding when compared with other recent polls. In the Times poll, Boxer is ahead by 8 points, 51 percent to 43 percent. (Boxer’s 51 percent represents the first time any of the four candidates for the two big offices has been over 50 percent in the past few weeks.)

A SurveyUSA poll [PDF] conducted on Sept. 19 for a consortium of local TV news channels statewide, including KABC in Los Angeles, found Brown with 46 percent and Whitman with 43 percent.

The same poll put Boxer at 49 percent and Fiorina at 43 percent — the same result Fiorina received in the new Times poll. (This was a reversal from the previous SurveyUSA poll, which had Fiorina in the lead 48-46.)

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New Crop of GOP-Tea Party Senate Candidates Holds Radical View on Abortion: Believe Govt Should Enforce Births by Rape, Incest Victims

Jon Ponder

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

On her MSNBC show last night, Rachel Maddow reported that, with addition of Christine O’Donnell to the 2010 roster of U.S. Senate candidates, there are now five GOP-tea party candidates who oppose abortion, even in the cases of rape and incest.

The others are Sharron Angle of Nevada, Ken Buck of Colorado, Joe Miller of Alaska and Rand Paul of Kentucky.

Except for Buck, these radical GOP candidates were all endorsed by tea party leader Sarah Palin, who also shares this radical view — even though she once told an audience she considered aborting her fifth child, who was born with Down Syndrome.

Maddow also points to the inconsistency in this position and the tea party’s lip service to libertarian belief in limited government.

What these Republican candidates are talking about is the federal government not only monitoring every pregancy in the country to ensure it ends the way the government prefers, which is a live birth, but they’re also saying that the government should force rape victims — the government should force rape victims, under pain of criminal prosecution, to give birth to their rapist’s baby. The government must force that [outcome] any time someone becomes pregnant because of rape.

If you are 14-year-old girl who is raped by your uncle or your father, the government will force you, as a 14-year-old, to give birth to the child that is the product of incestuous rape.

Remember, this is the year of small-government conservatives. Getting government out of your life. Government just small enough to … [drown in a bathtub].

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