Whitman must hold herself Accountable

Written by Byron Williams

Friday, 08 October 2010

Running for Governor California requires one part ego, one part chutzpah, and one part disingenuousness. It is a cynical take to be sure, but what else can explain why Democrat Jerry Brown and Republican Meg Whitman can only talk of pain-free solutions, void of many specifics.

Therefore, Whitman’s illegal housekeeper scandal is a big issue.

Given there will no real discussions on how one governs an ungovernable state, work with legislators who possess no compelling reason to compromise, this is perhaps the first insight into Whitman’s character—as more of this yarn is unveiled it might also tell us something’s about Brown’s character as well.

As for now, the light shines brightly and intensely on Whitman, calling her rationale for running into question with less than a month before the election.

Whitman has based her campaign on the foundation of having successfully run eBay. In other words, she would run government like a business.

Does this not beg the question: will the business model be based on Enron or Berkshire Hathaway?
This is probably a well-tested focus group metaphor, but a modicum of critical thinking demonstrates how quickly this image, which is designed to simplify the existing problems, is nothing more than political pabulum.
Businesses must thrive in a competitive marketplace. Government has no such competition nor is it designed for that purpose. When one talks of running government like a business it is usually at the expense of many of the those who would be considered the equivalent of shareholders: the state’s residents who are on the margins.

The mantra of “waste, fraud, and abuse” might be the desirable red meat on the campaign trail, but it does not answer how California over a 30-year period has institutionalized deficits, damaging its educational system, including higher education, ignored its infrastructure, and has chronic prison overcrowding.

Whitman’s candidacy raises additional questions. Why would someone spend roughly $119 million to date, seeking a job in an industry that she has shown little interest in participating prior to her gubernatorial run? Her voting record, or lack thereof, has already been well documented—a 28 year absence according to the Sacramento Bee.

Moreover, the fact that Whitman has spent record amounts of her personal wealth and was in a statistical dead heat with Brown before the first debate suggests she lacks something as a candidate.

With a flawed rationale and scant political participation, it is doubtful Whitman’s candidacy would be viable were it not for her enormous resources.

Given the rather thin basis that the Whitman campaign sits, what other reasons would one have to support her candidacy? How about character?

Here is where the scandal of Whitman’s former housekeeper Nick Diaz Santillan comes into play.

Diaz Santillan, who was in the country illegally, was Whitman's housekeeper for 9 years, before she was fired in 2009—about the time Whitman began her pursuit of the governor’s mansion.

Not only has Whitman maintained her innocence, steadfastly claiming she and her husband did not know of Diaz Santillan’s illegal status until she informed Whitman shortly before she was fired, Whitman offers this is the skullduggery of Jerry Brown and his surrogates as part of her alibi.

As Whitman said to Brown during their recent debate, “You put her out there and you should be ashamed for sacrificing Nicky Diaz on the alter of your political ambitions.”

Let’s assume, momentarily, Brown is behind this scandal—there is no evidence as of this writing to suggest such—what then?

Does it let Whitman off the hook? Does it appear she has lived contrary to her hard-line position on illegal immigration?

Did Brown write the 2003 letter from the government that she accused Diaz of intercepting—the letter questioned Diaz Santillan’s legal status that also has her husband’s scrawl at the lower bottom, indicating that at least one of the Whitman’s knew Diaz might be in the country illegally six years before she was let go?

If Brown’s character is impugned for leaking the story, it does not absolve Whitman. If she cannot take responsibility for Diaz Santillan, what will she own if the voters of California (her shareholders) send her to Sacramento to be held accountable for the state’s myriad problems?