Longtime FR friend penned some exclusive thoughts for FR readers on why he endorsed Meg Whitman for Governor….

GOVERNOR WHITMAN
By Dick Ackerman

My first significant contact with Meg Whitman was early in the “Romney for President” campaign.  She was the National Finance Chair and I was the California Co Chair for Governor Romney.  We were on a charter flight from Long Beach to Fenway Park in Boston for a rally and fundraiser.  On the plane were major donors, elected officials, Republican activists and volunteers.  During the five hour flight, I watched Meg spend time with all of us.  She was comfortable taking politics, family, kids, business and anything else that we deal with in our everyday lives.

It was evident that she was smart, successful, caring and truly a real person.  I saw her a few more times during the Romney campaign, and then did not see her until the Republican Convention in Minneapolis.  After Romney suspended his campaign, she immediately offered to help Senator McCain in his presidential bid.  We sat next to each other during the convention [front row one night].  While paying attention to every single speech, we continued our discussion ranging from kids to politics to everyday life.  Meg spoke at the convention and did a fine job, and continued to work tirelessly for the rest of the presidential campaign.  After Senator McCain lost, she continued to stay involved in the process, and ultimately decided to run for Governor of the State of California.

After more discussions with Meg, I decided to support her campaign because I believe she could actually govern a state that is purported to be ungovernable.  She developed and made EBay a very successful company.  She had to make hard, and sometimes unpopular, decisions involving employees, management, staff, consumers, the media and general public.  Meg believes and practices basic Republican principles – personal freedom, individual responsibility, smaller government and financial conservatism.  She is a good communicator and can connect with the voters.  Lastly, I think Meg has the most important attribute for a Republican candidate for governor – she can defeat anyone the Democrats put up.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 16th, 2009 at 12:00 am and is filed under Blog Posts.