In Meg's Own Words

"There is a clear choice in this election. California is in crisis. And we certainly cannot save California's future by repeating the failures of the past." - Meg Whitman, Candidate for California Governor

Self-awareness is one of the foundational components of outstanding communication.  Know who you are and know with whom you are speaking.  Billionaire businessperson Meg Whitman made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end because her statement about repeating the failures of the past made me realize that she believes California residents don't remember the last seven years of Governor Schwarzenegger's administration.

I suppose it's time to remind Madame Whitman of her similarity to our "failures of the past."

When actor Arnold Schwarzenegger was running for governor of the Golden State, he ran as a Republican dedicated to change the way government was run in Sacramento.  He declared that because he was not a political insider, he was better prepared to make the hard choices to improve the lives of every Californian with fiscally conservative vision for our budget.  He failed at this promise.

As governor, Schwarzenegger, like Whitman, promised that his would be an administration of the people.  Tonight, in her acceptance speech, Whitman said, "I'm a big believer in the power of many. What we can do together, none of us can do alone."

One must wonder if that's how she ran E-Bay?  Did she discuss every decision with her staff?  Were her customers the motivator behind her choices?  I doubt it.  E-Bay makes decisions based on what is best for E-Bay.  It's not likely since in the first year that she took over E-Bay, she completely changed the way the corporation was structured.  The problem, she can't do that in a governmental environment.  A smart businessperson does not necessarily equate to a strong governmental leader.  They are not the same animal, no matter what the candidates say.  No matter how hard it tries, a yak will never be a swan.  Or is that the other way around?

According to political commentator William Bradley in the Huffington Post (2010), "Since she had vowed to spend $150 million total for the primary and the general election -- assuming she made it to the general election -- it is very safe to say that she is way off her plan with $90 million in spending to try to secure a primary victory." 

Clearly, Whitman hasn't been able to live within her budget for the campaign.  A lesson I learned many years ago is believe what people tell you about themselves.  They're telling you the truth.  When one combines that philosophy with the other old saw from 17th Century Ireland, "Actions speak louder than words," we have a clear picture of what her word actually means.  The question become, though, is she really any different than most politicians.

I'm a firm believer that people who are running for their first public office have absolutely no clue what is in store them.  How could they?  Even when they have been on the periphery of governmental operations, they aren't truly on the inside.  They aren't dealing with constituents who are, incidentally, very different than customers.  They aren't making decisions that will last for generations.  They simply don't understand the ramifications of working within a system that has been created to make it very difficult to make substantive changes to its infrastructure.  Governmental operations are not that different than HAL in the 1968 Stanley Kubrick film, "2001: A Space Odyssey."  HAL was in service until he was threatened.  Then, he protected himself.

As we begin the next leg of our journey toward electing a new governor, let us do what Whitman has suggested and recall our failures of the past, the most recent of whom was our current governor.  After all, we have been given a hint about what's to come if Meg Whitman is elected and the hint is in her own words.

______________________________

References 

Sacramento Bee (2010) Capitol Alert. Text: Meg Whitman's acceptance Speech. Retrieved from http://blogs.sacbee.com/capitolalertlatest/2010/06/text-meg-whitma.html#ixzz0qKzu5G4K


Huffington Post (2010). L.A. Meg Whitman's Whoppers. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/william-bradley/meg-whitmans-whoppers_b_594424.html

Photographs

 
Sacramento Bee (2010) (Meg Whitman Close]. Sacbee.com. Capitol Alert. Retrieved from http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/capitolalertlatest/MegWhitmanClose.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/capitolalertlatest/gov-arnold-schw/&usg=__Qj9mtDPi5S4k2fE2wugc17kb7Wo=&h=340&w=512&sz=41&hl=en&start=18&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=aO9rXS5pi7CnaM:&tbnh=87&tbnw=131&prev=/images%3Fq%3DMeg%2BWhitman%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Dp,com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox%26tbs%3Disch:1
 
Brusque. (2009). [Meg Whitman Fortune magazine cover].  Retrieved from http://brusque.files.wordpress.com/2009/03/meg-whitman-fortune-magazine.jpg
 
Daily Breeze. (2010).  [Meg Whitman in a crowd].  Retrieved from http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site577/2010/0330/20100330__C_TN31-WHITMAN-SMC0%2BPC4UKLH_400.JPG&imgrefurl=http://www.dailybreeze.com/news/ci_14787440&usg=__s9NpEDyhbMVQ_YBlLXD_SK8p5uQ=&h=283&w=400&sz=42&hl=en&start=73&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=JNhTyrqUgmlO7M:&tbnh=88&tbnw=124&prev=/images%3Fq%3DMeg%2BWhitman%2Bcrowd%26start%3D60%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Dp,com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox%26ndsp%3D20%26tbs%3Disch:1