Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Whitman, Fiorina and McMahon: Spending big, failing bigger
Washington Post ^ | 11/3/2010 | Jason Horowitz

Posted on 11/04/2010 9:51:42 AM PDT by Qbert

LOS ANGELES - Meg Whitman, Carly Fiorina and Linda McMahon had a lot in common.

All sharp, successful businesswomen who made millions as executives in the private sector, they identified 2010 as an apt historical moment for a Republican candidate with no political experience to break into politics. In pursuit of higher office, each committed considerable resources - more than $200 million combined - to challenge seemingly vulnerable Democrats.

Each risk taker came up far short of her goal.

Whitman, the 54-year-old former chief executive of eBay, burned through more than $140 million of her own money in a colossal loss in the California governor's race to a former governor, Attorney General Jerry Brown. Also in California, Fiorina, 56, the former Hewlett-Packard leader, spent about $7 million of her own funds in a bitter Senate loss to the incumbent, Barbara Boxer. And McMahon, 62, who with her husband built the smackdown empire called World Wrestling Entertainment in Connecticut, spent $50 million in seeking an open Senate seat, losing to Attorney General Richard Blumenthal.

The question isn't so much why three savvy businesswomen threw so much good money after bad in losing ventures to win political office. In a year when voters overwhelmingly registered their dissatisfaction with Democrats and the unemployment-riddled economy, the candidates had every reason to consider the millions a sound investment. Instead, the question is how they failed so resoundingly.

[Snip]

Whitman was the shakiest political presence of the three, and a colossal ad campaign could not correct that. Awkward on the trail and hounded by embarrassing reports that she had failed to vote most of her adult life and that her housekeeper was an illegal immigrant, she hired expensive media consultants, including chief strategist Mike Murphy, who made hundreds of thousands of dollars of Whitman's money...

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events; Politics/Elections; US: California; US: Connecticut
KEYWORDS: blamethevoter; ca; ca2010; cabashing; epicfail; failedcandidates; failure; fiorina; mcmahon; megwhitman; mikemurphy; moneytoburn; whitman
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-42 next last

1 posted on 11/04/2010 9:51:44 AM PDT by Qbert
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Qbert

Zzzzzzzz. Yes, better to take boatloads of union and special interest money and then to win and go to Washington to be the union sock puppets is the ethos of the Washington Poops.


2 posted on 11/04/2010 9:53:40 AM PDT by MissesBush (Stay angry--right through November)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Qbert

Just demonstrates, that you can not convince a state full of Marxist parasites to vote for self reliance and limited government.


3 posted on 11/04/2010 9:54:25 AM PDT by MBB1984
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Qbert

When a politician invests $150 million in a campaign and loses, is there a tax write off for doing so?


4 posted on 11/04/2010 9:55:15 AM PDT by RC2
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Qbert
California is not savable so it's best to just let the Democrats have the wheel of that sinking ship. No need for Republicans to get stuck with the blame of 40 plus years of failed liberal policies.
5 posted on 11/04/2010 9:55:32 AM PDT by avacado
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MissesBush
When Republicans spend their own money, they are demonized as Evil Rich people who must be stopped.
When Republicans get money from manufacturers, food processors, or contractors, they are demonized for being funded by Special Interests.

When Democrats get money from unions, the Sierra Club, George Soros, or Goldman Sachs, are these the Evil Rich? Are they "special interests"? Heck no! They are just "concerned citizens".

6 posted on 11/04/2010 9:57:10 AM PDT by ClearCase_guy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Qbert

The WashCompost fails to mention that the Democrat Taliban abused these conservative women in a most shameful manner. It is no accident that TEA Party male candidates won, but female candidates lost because they were portrayed by Obama’s media as being “extreme.” “unstable,” “dangerous” etc. Look at the despicable ads that Harry Reid ran as Exhibit A. Next time a liberal says they are “feminist,” ask them why the Democrats hate conservative women.


7 posted on 11/04/2010 9:57:43 AM PDT by kittymyrib
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Qbert
Meg Whitman, Carly Fiorina and Linda McMahon all three over estimated the intelligence of the the electorate in California and Connecticut. Plus it looks like Colorado is now completely Californicated. Too bad.
8 posted on 11/04/2010 9:59:07 AM PDT by Tupelo
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MBB1984

Pretty much.


9 posted on 11/04/2010 9:59:22 AM PDT by SC_Pete
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Qbert

The way a Republican wins the Governor’s race in CA is if he is a movie Star married to a Kennedy. After Arnold, even that is no longer possible. What should happen is that when California begs for the inevitable bail out Congress should say no and then try to build on the wreckage.


10 posted on 11/04/2010 9:59:37 AM PDT by Anti-Bubba182
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Qbert
The real story is that people prefer to vote for someone who has had at least some public office experience. It's the perception that people trust someone's public record more than they do with some rich person looking to cap off their career buying an office.

Millionaires running for the Senate have always done horribly. Huffington spent $40 million for the Senate and lost. Romney lost in 1994 to Ted Kennedy. Herb Kohl is the exception, but even he was well-known in the community (owning the Milwaukee Bucks and owning grocery & dept stores) which blunted that "rich guy" assertion. But the ComPost wants you to believe that the candidates were "too extreme" on abortion or something when that just isn't the case.

The good news, is that with these tremendous gains in state legislatures by Republicans we have a farm system for the future. But I do think Tea Party candidates should start from the ground up locally or in their state legislature before making the jump to federal.

11 posted on 11/04/2010 10:01:05 AM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist (The Republic of the United States of America)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Qbert

california is dying and 45 states do not care any longer.

LLS


12 posted on 11/04/2010 10:01:07 AM PDT by LibLieSlayer (WOLVERINES!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: avacado

“California is not savable so it’s best to just let the Democrats have the wheel of that sinking ship. No need for Republicans to get stuck with the blame of 40 plus years of failed liberal policies.”

Agree. The only thing that will make the average person there wake up is when they’ve finally hit rock bottom.


13 posted on 11/04/2010 10:01:26 AM PDT by Qbert
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: Qbert
Uh, and the nation should take great pride in the successes of Brown, Boxer, and, Blumenthal then ??? Silly and sick...
14 posted on 11/04/2010 10:02:05 AM PDT by LRS ("This is silly! It can't be! It can't be!!" "Oh yes it is! I said you wouldn't know the joint.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Qbert

At least be a congressman or state legislature before running for higher political office. The problem for these successful CEO’s is that they don’t want to start from the bottom and work their way up again.


15 posted on 11/04/2010 10:03:05 AM PDT by ari-freedom (Ding dong the Pelosi is gone!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: LibLieSlayer

Dying by its own hand, no less.


16 posted on 11/04/2010 10:03:44 AM PDT by ZirconEncrustedTweezers (Attn. GOP: Deliver the goods, or we'll do to you what we did to the Dems!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: Qbert

Voters in these blue states - CA and CT - chose career politician Democrat hacks over smart, accomplished Republican women.

In all three cases, the Democrat-leaning states chose people who have made careers destroying jobs over those who made careers creating them.

If you want to know what is wrong with American politics today and why America is in a world of hurt ... there’s your clue right there.


17 posted on 11/04/2010 10:04:13 AM PDT by WOSG (OPERATION RESTORE AMERICAN FREEDOM - NOVEMBER, 2010 - DO YOUR PART!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Qbert

Lets look at demographics.

CA is nothing but illegals and leftist entertainment types. All sensible working people have migrated over the last decade.

CT is nothing but Wall Street bailout recipients and NYC entertainment elitist types with a smattering of old money liberal guilters.

Here is why these are unwinnable states. Plus running moderates is always a loser even if they win.


18 posted on 11/04/2010 10:04:33 AM PDT by Lazlo in PA ("Forces of Evil" member in good standing)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Tupelo
The WWE association destroyed McMahon with female voters. People like my Mom just hate wrestling.

Fiorina's loss hurts the worst because even Democrats admit Boxer sucks. The outsourcing stuff really hurt her.

Whitman just isn't a born politician. Plus backlash against Arnold who killed the Republican brand out there.

19 posted on 11/04/2010 10:05:43 AM PDT by Callahan
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: Extremely Extreme Extremist

“But I do think Tea Party candidates should start from the ground up locally or in their state legislature before making the jump to federal.”

you don’t find too many hot shot CEO’s in the tea party. Instead we find lots of successful small business owners and they make great House candidates.


20 posted on 11/04/2010 10:07:19 AM PDT by ari-freedom (Ding dong the Pelosi is gone!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-42 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson