Meg Whitman hearts jobs, ATVs
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GOP gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman stopped by a Yamaha dealership in Roseville, Calif., on Tuesday, touting her plan to turn rescue California’s economy and disparaging her opponent, Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown.
The two have tangled publicly over debates, with both accepting one appearance together. Brown, a Democrat, has challenged Whitman to nine more.
“We’ll look at some of these other debates. But I’ve got to tell you, he is talking about 10 debates. I would be glad if he had 10 ideas to fix California,” Whitman said to applause from the 75-strong audience.
Whitman’s event was framed by 12 off-road bikes behind her and two signs that read “Jobs are on the way.”
Sean Coplen, the owner of Roseville Yamaha, introduced Whitman as a friend and tossed out a little-known fact about the billionaire former EBay chief executive: “Meg rides ATVs.”
Whitman bit her lower lip and flashed a big thumbs-up at the mention of off-road vehicles. “We have a couple of those 4x4s,” she told reporters after the event.
Other highlights:
-- Whitman spoke of being “battle-tested” by her GOP primary opponent Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner: “It was a tough campaign, wasn’t it – holy smokes!”
-- Asked if her opposition to taxes extended to times of natural disaster, she said, “In a natural disaster, gosh, that’s hard to predict. I mean if there was literally an 8.0 earthquake here and we had no way out gosh, certainly, I wouldn’t want to necessarily rule that out. But under normal circumstances, I think raising taxes on businesses and individuals is exactly the wrong thing to do.”
-- Shane Goldmacher in Sacramento