Video: Whitman’s bizarre press conference
posted at 3:10 pm on March 11, 2010 by Ed Morrissey
What if a candidate for office called a press conference, and then refused to talk to the press? California candidate for governor Meg Whitman invited the press to cover a meeting with the state’s railroad commissioner, but then surprised the press by refusing to talk to them. Instead, the nonplussed reporters got shooed out of the event by Whitman’s aide, but not before beclowning themselves, too:
She put up a screen to keep from having her picture taken? Doesn’t a candidate usually want face time on TV and pictures in the papers? The press may not be a friend to Republicans, as the local CBS station proves by interviewing only Democrats for reaction, but Whitman invited them to attend the event in the first place. Of course, it doesn’t help that the first question asked of Whitman was whether she had a reaction to a “Wiki-Meg” website, which is of course the most pressing issue facing Californians in 2010. I’d be tempted to roll my eyes and move on to another event, too.
Whitman at least apologized for the mess. Maybe the press might think about apologizing for their performance in this instance as well.
Blowback
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Keep voting democrat!
daesleeper on March 11, 2010 at 3:14 PM
OK, clearly everyone in California is nuts.
rbj on March 11, 2010 at 3:15 PM
21st century representative.
Electrongod on March 11, 2010 at 3:15 PM
Ok, that laugh was downright spooky.
Vashta.Nerada on March 11, 2010 at 3:16 PM
Poisner for the win!
What is the point of calling a press conference if you don’t want the press to even attend?
Did they think they were inviting the press to a different event and get the dates mixed up?
JadeNYU on March 11, 2010 at 3:16 PM
If she can’t handle a few clowns in the Bay Area press, how does she expect to handle the California Legislature?
FAIL.
The Ugly American on March 11, 2010 at 3:16 PM
Wow, didn’t expect them to include a hit on Sarah Palin in that piece.
El_Terrible on March 11, 2010 at 3:19 PM
see that smoke? It’s part of her life savings going up in flames.
Doctor Zhivago on March 11, 2010 at 3:20 PM
Ding a ling. How stupid can you be to pull a stunt like this, Whitman you fool. California is weird.
Bishop on March 11, 2010 at 3:20 PM
How is she going to take on the unions when she can’t even handle the tools in the media?
Mark1971 on March 11, 2010 at 3:20 PM
Oh, she’ll make a great Governor.
Look how she handles it. She asks someone else in the room how they want to handle it.
The woman can’t even deal with the press by herself. Oh, yeah, she was definately a CEO. My guess is she had at least 8 VP’s. Er, sorry, Executive VP’s.
Jaynie59 on March 11, 2010 at 3:21 PM
Right now Whitman appears to be spending a boatload of cash… There’s always 2 ads attack Poizner as a Pelosi and Al Gore liberal on TV here.
El_Terrible on March 11, 2010 at 3:21 PM
Good lord, settle down…
ninjapirate on March 11, 2010 at 3:22 PM
And Mitt ROmney was this dope as his VP and the GOP elite think she’s the future of the party, not Sarah Palin!!!
promachus on March 11, 2010 at 3:23 PM
I want to know if she wins, could she sell the Governor’s jet on eBay?
Electrongod on March 11, 2010 at 3:24 PM
She is a handpicked crony of Juan McLame. If that isn’t bad enough she is a pro tax, pro amnesty, pro uber enviromentalism, pro cap and trade, anti gun, anti conservative, anti common sense PROGRESSIVE MASQUERADING AS A REPUBLICAN!
Yet another “gift” from John McCain. I hope she keeps up the good work and lets everyone see just how bad a candidate she really is.
America1st on March 11, 2010 at 3:25 PM
As tempting as an eye roll might be it shows a lack of leadership. If she can’t handle that question she’s not ready. Poor California, they seem financially doomed.
Cindy Munford on March 11, 2010 at 3:25 PM
They could always point out the good news that she didn’t expose herself as a truther….
Vashta.Nerada on March 11, 2010 at 3:26 PM
It must be the water….nothing seems to be normal in Cali.
search4truth on March 11, 2010 at 3:26 PM
Maybe it’s the water out there.
Maybe it is the air out there.
Maybe it is the stress of living on a gigantic fault line out there.
But one thing is clear.
People in California are WAAAAAAAAAAAY OUT THERE!!!!!
pilamaye on March 11, 2010 at 3:26 PM
Yes, let’s trash and pile on top of a Republican candidate that’s running in a really importance race, in a state where Republicans have a hard time winning. That’s smart.
Idiots.
Narutoboy on March 11, 2010 at 3:27 PM
Get the chaff out early. That’s what primary campaigns are supposed to do.
Vashta.Nerada on March 11, 2010 at 3:28 PM
I’m still undecided, but Poizner is the only one mentioning our messed up illegal immigration problem. That gives him a lot of credibility as a non-PC choice.
NTWR on March 11, 2010 at 3:28 PM
This could be a Special Operation Mission,
in which she is playing with the media,but,
it reeks!!
canopfor on March 11, 2010 at 3:29 PM
And will you guys do a favor and vote in this poll please?
It’s about California’s draconian AB 32 (Cap and Trade on Steroids) law and whether or not we should put it on hold to decrease unemployment.
Thanks from a still (somewhat) sane Californian.
NTWR on March 11, 2010 at 3:30 PM
She’s probably the most high profile Republican running in it. I haven’t heard any of the other names. Maybe some of you who follow this, or live there, have, but I haven’t. This is probably the worst time to be attacking Republicans.
Narutoboy on March 11, 2010 at 3:31 PM
Fiorina and Poizner, and I don’t live anywhere near there.
Vashta.Nerada on March 11, 2010 at 3:32 PM
Not according to Meg “Just Crown Me Already” Whitman.
You noticed that too.
The Ugly American on March 11, 2010 at 3:34 PM
great….I have a choice between Mr. Governor MOONBEAM and Madam Governor MOONBEAM.
SDarchitect on March 11, 2010 at 3:34 PM
We’ve saved a seat for you here in reality whenever you feel like returning Ed.
uknowmorethanme on March 11, 2010 at 3:35 PM
She’s not being attacked, she is being properly criticized. If she or any other Republican is given a pass “just because” then we just shouldn’t bother having primaries or elections.
myrenovations on March 11, 2010 at 3:36 PM
Seven Percent Solution on March 11, 2010 at 3:37 PM
WE-fckin-IRD
blatantblue on March 11, 2010 at 3:37 PM
Get over it kiddo–this is just the begining…It’s going to be nasty, and she just gave ammo to the opposion…This was a Katy Couric moment…
Bet the Dems are making an ad as we speak…
lovingmyUSA on March 11, 2010 at 3:37 PM
geez, another california politician hitting a new low.
jbh45 on March 11, 2010 at 3:38 PM
I’m not a CA resident, so I don’t have a horse in this race…but if a candidate can’t comport his/herself in a manner befitting a governor I wouldn’t want him/her leading my state. Regardless of party. Calling a press conference and then acting this way is not impressive. It’s called not settling for mediocrity. Of course, Ahnold got elected so I guess the bar is low.
search4truth on March 11, 2010 at 3:41 PM
BFD, Whitman should hold another press conference tomorrow, and be prepared. If Whitman needs to learn a protocol or two fine, but in this case, she can turn this negative into a positive by getting right back up on the horse, immediatly! Indecision is not a forte’, it is a liability.
Americannodash on March 11, 2010 at 3:41 PM
She is a handpicked crony of Juan McLame. If that isn’t bad enough she is a pro tax, pro amnesty, pro uber enviromentalism, pro cap and trade, anti gun, anti conservative, anti common sense PROGRESSIVE MASQUERADING AS A REPUBLICAN!
LASue on March 11, 2010 at 3:41 PM
be careful, nutboy may call you a racist!
jbh45 on March 11, 2010 at 3:42 PM
If Poizner doesn’t win the primary, then I will be withholding my vote for governor.
I’d rather see the state go down in flames under a Democrat than watch another Schwarzenegger in pumps carry water for the Obama administration.
The Ugly American on March 11, 2010 at 3:43 PM
This probably the worst time for Republicans to shoot themselves in the foot right before the big race…
lovingmyUSA on March 11, 2010 at 3:44 PM
I’m leaning toward Poizner, but there still is time for all candidates in the race to do a face plant like good old whitman.
jbh45 on March 11, 2010 at 3:44 PM
Don’t kid yourselves, guys. Jerry Brown’s got this thing locked up. Ahnold was a dismal failure of an R, and R’s don’t poll well here, so we can expect a slide to the D’s.
It’s a pity, because Poizner would probably have been ok for a California R.
TheUnrepentantGeek on March 11, 2010 at 3:45 PM
OT: The Michigan trucker Harlen Drake accused of murdering anti-abortion protester in front of Flint area High School has been convicted by a jury and faces life inprisonment without parole.
http://www.freep.com/article/20100311/NEWS06/100311017/1322/Trucker-convicted-in-murder-of-abortion-protester-businessman
uknowmorethanme on March 11, 2010 at 3:45 PM
RINO exposed.
Glad to see this, and I hope that she loses. She doesn’t deserve to hold office.
Key West Reader on March 11, 2010 at 3:46 PM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meg_Whitman
canopfor on March 11, 2010 at 3:46 PM
I was talking to one of the sheriff candidates in San Diego county the other day who says that both Meggie and Poizner are RINO’s and he doesn’t like that idea of working with either one of them. The biggest problem is that Jerry Brown is more liberal then Feinstein, Boxer and Pelosi all put together!!! Conservatives in California are just screwed!
Vntnrse on March 11, 2010 at 3:47 PM
That guy named Joe Tumin interviewed by channel 5 in this video clip is a professor at San Francisco State. He was also quoted today, on another topic, in the San Francisco Chronicle by columnist C.W. Nevius.
Emperor Norton on March 11, 2010 at 3:47 PM
The only thing that “rainbow and pink ponies” Brown has locked up is his hash stash.
jbh45 on March 11, 2010 at 3:47 PM
That, and Stay-fckin-Staged!
Key West Reader on March 11, 2010 at 3:47 PM
Ugh, stop with RINO hunting… she farked up here, but the RINO hunters are worthless… worse than than the RINOs themselves…
ninjapirate on March 11, 2010 at 3:48 PM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ytl71djzvw&tr
El_Terrible on March 11, 2010 at 3:49 PM
I have not yet seen a conservative politician who really understands the leftist media or knows to play them. (Palin comes the closest.) Astounding, given the track record of the liberal media by now, but true. The media is the de facto enemy of conservatism and conservative politicians. Indeed, it is the enemy of many of our principles and freedoms. Any conservative politician needs to deeply internalize this fact. He or she needs to think through how this can be used against them. It’s a formation of strategy which absolutely must take place. But none seem able or willing to do it. All seem either in denial, or take a defensive, solicitious position when it comes to the media. “Please be fair to me!” It never works, it never will work.
rrpjr on March 11, 2010 at 3:50 PM
LOL. You are trained/prompted to respond to triggers… Like RINO.
Nice job, Obamatard… Well done.
What is your pay scale?
Key West Reader on March 11, 2010 at 3:50 PM
Yes, but the dems candidate will be Jerry Brown, who is a disaster all on his own. And really, I wish we had the luxury of picking our candidate based on tact and how they handle the press. But we have much bigger worries, like prisoners being released early, and without parole officers, into our streets, schools closing, fire departments closing, businesses fleeing, and an out of control legislation who ignores reality and instead continues to grow the government and give their assistants huge raises.
LASue on March 11, 2010 at 3:51 PM
Looks like a win for Chuck DeVore.
Mirimichi on March 11, 2010 at 3:52 PM
Wawawa. George W. Bush ruined us all. Arnold the Lib effed up so a conservative can’t win. We can’t possibly win Kennedy’s seat. Bla bla bla. Man up dude.
El_Terrible on March 11, 2010 at 3:52 PM
Do you have a problem with conservatives wanting wolves in sheeps’ clothing out of the GOP? There is already a party for RINOs and the rest, it’s called the Democrat party.
uknowmorethanme on March 11, 2010 at 3:53 PM
Yeah, because he did such a stellar job at Governor his first go-around.
uknowmorethanme on March 11, 2010 at 3:54 PM
Yeah…I don’t know how in the hell she thinks she’s gonna bring business back to California without cutting taxes.
The Ugly American on March 11, 2010 at 3:54 PM
OMG, I am in LOVE, LOVE, LOVE with your. Um, Solicitious? Is that like a solicitious hot fudge sundae, or a solicitious coffee with a double shot of espresso? Or a Solicitious taste of some red velvet cake?
Oh, dear. I’m making you hungry. For a dictionary.
Key West Reader on March 11, 2010 at 3:54 PM
OK, that was really stupid of me. DeVore is running for senator.
Mirimichi on March 11, 2010 at 3:55 PM
I remember watching that cutie female newscaster, Dana, years ago when I lived in L.A. She’s aged pretty well. She was super cute with the young Halle Berry look when she first started her career.
Oh wait, this is a political blog.
Never mind.
Mr_Magoo on March 11, 2010 at 3:56 PM
The hit on Sarah Palin was the whole reason FOR the piece!
bofh on March 11, 2010 at 3:57 PM
California will be bankrupt in a few months, so it makes little difference who wins the governorship in November.
California se declaró en bancarrota en pocos meses, por lo que hace poca diferencia que gana la gobernación en noviembre.
Emperor Norton on March 11, 2010 at 3:58 PM
Ladies and gentlemen, this is a person, yes, a rino person, but all of the republicans running for governor are rino. This is the closest California is going to get in this election cycle. Deal with it and get behind anybody except Jerry Brown. If Californians really want to see their state fall into the Pacific, elect Jerry “you can only use one ply of toilet paper” Brown.
Americannodash on March 11, 2010 at 4:00 PM
Meg will release her tax returns when Øbambo releases his long form birth certificate. Him first.
Yephora on March 11, 2010 at 4:01 PM
..I’ll bet you said the same thing when you withheld your vote for McCain as well. If so, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for the screaming a$$hole you helped put in the White House.
VoyskaPVO on March 11, 2010 at 4:01 PM
LOL…. I thought it was a pretty good joke.
The Ugly American on March 11, 2010 at 4:02 PM
Well the local yokel liberal media hacks got their red meat for the day.
RobCon on March 11, 2010 at 4:04 PM
Some here were complaining that Chris Cristie was a rino, squish, they weren’t going to vote for him, etc. But look at him now. He is taking no prisoners and telling everyone in NJ what has to be done in no uncertain terms.
Whitman still has time to show some leadership, but she better start now. Gimmicks will not work in California. She has to go head on against the state unions and educate the California electorate.
chris999 on March 11, 2010 at 4:05 PM
We demand an answer to our A$$whole questions.
RobCon on March 11, 2010 at 4:06 PM
Maybe she can call up Jesse Jackson to help her play the media since she loves him so much.
SouthernGent on March 11, 2010 at 4:07 PM
You bet wrong.
The Ugly American on March 11, 2010 at 4:07 PM
where is the link to the Wiki-Meg website?
pabarge on March 11, 2010 at 4:12 PM
wikimeg
pabarge on March 11, 2010 at 4:13 PM
She handles concerned citizens in a similar manner, but with security guards:
CA’s Meg WHITMAN CHANNELS MA’s Martha COAKLEY!!!
I think starting your political career running for Governor of such a contentious state show hubris, naiveté, or a combination of both.
God have mercy on California; after this mess, no one else will.
Mutnodjmet on March 11, 2010 at 4:14 PM
We’re no longer “The Land of Fruits and Nuts”, we’re Ground Zero of the final battle for the Planet of the Apes.
Chris_Balsz on March 11, 2010 at 4:15 PM
insanity…don’t knock it til you’ve tried it. Nuts aren’t the problem here though, it’s the fruits and flakes that screw it up.
Fighton03 on March 11, 2010 at 4:21 PM
All I got from this is that the press really, really get their panties in a wad if there’s ever a change in plans and they are asked to leave.
TexasDan on March 11, 2010 at 4:24 PM
..well, thanks, at least, for that. But the same principle applies. I am betting the rest of my stake on the fact that you didn’t live through the first Moonbeam administration.
The guy is a fruit loop; the people in control of California now are fruit loops; Whitman is just a Cheerio. eBay makes money; Sacramento does not.
I don’t give a flying crap if she personally walks up to each and every reporter and knees them in the groin so long as she can run a biz.
Not the best P/R, granted; but good to shake this out early early.
VoyskaPVO on March 11, 2010 at 4:26 PM
Fiorina is not running against her. She’s not even running for the same thing. And I don’t know who Poizner is, and I don’t think anybody else does either.
Narutoboy on March 11, 2010 at 4:27 PM
Right. We have so many great choices in California that we need to let this turn us off Whitman.
I’m not even a Whitman supporter, but I can’t get excited about Poizner either. He’s a Mod 1 Mark 0 RINO.
This is the sort of thing California lefties will crow over, and it may or may not make an indelible impression on centrists or undecideds. Whitman looks like a CEO through the whole thing: courteous, not overreacting or caught off-guard; in charge, consulting her people at her discretion, making a decision and sticking with it.
None of this means she’s a movement conservative who will “fix” California. But it does mean the media will go out of their way to depict everything she does in the worst possible light, and we shouldn’t let ourselves be swayed by that. If she had looked flustered or indecisive in this little scene, that would be one thing. But she didn’t.
I do find the “Meg Whitman theme tune” annoying. (Fellow California-dwellers, you know what I mean.) I find the prospect of Gov. Jerry Brown: The Revenge even more annoying.
J.E. Dyer on March 11, 2010 at 4:27 PM
I had to laugh when the Democratic consultant complained that Meg doesn’t want to release any documents.
Immediately I thought of our most transparent president evah.
NebCon on March 11, 2010 at 4:29 PM
Rino exposed? WTF! She refused to talk the press and you, from that, come to the conclusion that she’s a RINO. Good God, conservatives are as dumb as liberals. What the he11, I mean, that is just unbelievable. I’d rather a pack of wolves to be my constituents than Hot Air “conservatives.”
Narutoboy on March 11, 2010 at 4:33 PM
I was listening to John & Ken here in the LA area and they brought a scary funny link. Seems Jim Jones was a vote getter for good ol’ moonbeam’s governor campaign back in the day. For those of you too young to remember Jim Jones look up the origination of the phrase “drink the Kool Aid”.
Fighton03 on March 11, 2010 at 4:33 PM
If I’d been Meg Whitman, I’d have said right out, in response to that ridiculous question, exactly what you said, Ed. That there are critical issues facing Californians which need addressing expeditiously in order to avoid non-stop crises which would be nearly impossible to overcome once the domino effect begins. And I’d have said that the Wiki-Meg website is simply another expression of freedom of speech, which I fully support, so I’d be open to taking more germane questions to the California dilemma, if y’all are agreeable.
KendraWilder on March 11, 2010 at 4:37 PM
It gets worse, she was gushing about Van Jones last year! I will be voting for the lesser of two bad choices… What’s his name?…
I live here… we are screwed…
CCRWM on March 11, 2010 at 4:42 PM
KendraWilder — I agree your proposed response to the Wiki-Meg question is a good one.
It looks to me like the press reps were just upset that the candidate didn’t give them an opportunity to execute their agenda. That’s what they’re used to: candidates who want the exposure badly enough to play along, even if it’s with the media’s gotcha games.
We’ll see how things develop for Whitman. If she gets the GOP nomination, the state MSM really can freeze her out, or give her only bad press, and there will be no recourse against them in their own forums. But California’s 2010 election may well be a setback for the power of the MSM. There are too many other ways for a candidate to get the word out now, if he or she doesn’t rely wholly on the utterly feckless state GOP organization.
It will be interesting to watch.
J.E. Dyer on March 11, 2010 at 4:45 PM
That wiki Meg site is just a hit job site put up by the Left… If they did this for everyone running that’d give it some semblance of credibility but that’s not their objective…
CCRWM on March 11, 2010 at 4:51 PM
There are so many reasons NOT to vote for her, and this just adds to it.
1. She did a horrible job at eBay; just ask any seller during her time as CEO, and most of them will lament that she took a good business model and ruined it with her constant raising of fees. I can see her as Governor promising not to raise taxes, but trust me, she will incur so many fees on businesses and citizens, just like her mentor, Mitt Romney.
2. During her interview with Glenn Beck, she announced she’s against off-shore drilling. At that moment, I knew I could not cast a vote for her.
3. She gave thousands of dollars to Barbara Boxer’s 2004 re-election campaign! WHT?
4. Her voting record is practically non-existent.
5. Her infamous praise of Van Jones on that “green” cruise.
6. During a radio interview here in California, she mentioned that she would never have chosen Sarah Palin as the V.P. candidate, but she respects John McCain’s decision. She said she’s a Mitt supporter and Mitt was her choice for V.P. When the radio host asked if she would have hired Sarah Palin at eBay, Meg giggled along and said “no”.
Granted, our choices here are horrible. At one time, it was Whitman, Campbell and Poizner, and I was going to begrudgingly cast my ballot for Campbell. Then he dropped out and we’re stuck with Meg or Steve. I’ll go with Steve and hope he can pull out a win in the primary. Otherwise, for the first time ever, I’ll leave the Governor spot on the ballot blank.
yogi41 on March 11, 2010 at 4:51 PM
The press will never miss such an opportunity.
UltimateBob on March 11, 2010 at 5:01 PM
Yes, I think you nailed the motivating factor that is the bottom line on this episode. Meg flubbed it rather royally.
Indeed it will. For 20 years I lived in CA, and loved the state while hating what the liberals were doing to it. Finally left in 1998, but I follow the news there because I’m truly interested on seeing how it all plays out.
KendraWilder on March 11, 2010 at 5:03 PM
Nice hit piece. I like the repeated references to a trash web site.
Reporters can be such spoiled brats. Why don’t they go find some real waste and abuse and report on that.
pedestrian on March 11, 2010 at 5:04 PM
O for 2.
The Ugly American on March 11, 2010 at 5:26 PM
She wanted free ad time. It televised press release or something. They wanted the media to do what they could have done themselves and put on-line.
Vote Devore.
tjexcite on March 11, 2010 at 5:27 PM
Meh. Just another power mad socialists asserting their power and control over the press. And the press rolls over, sits up, and even begs.
capejasmine on March 11, 2010 at 5:30 PM
The press has been giving Jerry Brown the Eric Massa Tickle for weeks now, and has begun to try to serve up Whitman as the mutant spawn of Sarah Palin and Jeffrey Skilling.
She hasn’t been doing herself a lot of good on that front; if she sees no reason to speak to the press, she should say so, very forcefully.
I’m not sure how much of the stumbling is her, and how much is a bunch of advisers that are working at cross-purposes.
JEM on March 11, 2010 at 5:37 PM
Whitman is spending lots but saying little. Just like a 2008 candidate. Grew eBay by adding lotsa small sellers.
Campbell is a perpetual candidate. Sigh. Changed his mind to Senate
Poizner was okay Insurance Commissioner. Founded two wireless based co. A geeky marketing guy.
Our primary is still a few months away. I am registered as Dem. just to have a primary say. That might have to change. Do not trust Whitman on vagueness grounds.
Can any R. Gov. do CA any good? No. But a Gov. of NO wouldn’t hurt. Might keep LAT, SFC or E and SacBee in business. Heh.
Caststeel on March 11, 2010 at 5:45 PM
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