Meg Whitman: "Fresno looks like Detroit. It's awful."

[jefferson_dem]

Faux pas? Meg Whitman says Fresno 'looks like Detroit'
By John Ellis | Fresno Bee

Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman on Tuesday told the San Jose Mercury News editorial board that "Fresno looks like Detroit. It's awful."

According to the Mercury News website, Whitman was commenting on Fresno's economic state and the effect of recession on the region, and the former eBay CEO's campaign said as much in a statement released this morning.

"It was clear in the interview that Meg was talking about the economic duress in Fresno and the awful pain that results from record high unemployment," Whitman spokesman Andrea Jones Rivera said in an e-mail. "Meg knows that Fresno cannot be left behind as it has been in the past when the economic situation around the state gets better but Fresno doesn't respond as quickly."

But Tom Holyoke, a political science professor at California State University, Fresno, said Whitman should know better.

"It was not a smart move on her part," he said. "It was not particularly well thought out. It sounds like an off-the-cuff comment. Off-the-cuff comments are a politician's worst nightmare."

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/09/22/100998/faux-pas-meg-whitman-says-fresno.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_term=news#ixzz10JgDoJkg

[DJ13]

1. And you look like a horse in a pants suit Meg

[northernlights]

6. hey,why the need to insult horses?

they are beautiful and noble animals. Whitman...not so much.

[flamingdem]

32. +1000

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. C'mon, Meg! Do it again.....and keep on doing it!

[Canuckistanian]

3. Was Fresno once the engine of America's economy?

Detroit is noteworthy for it's "fall from grace" because of outsourcing, trade policies and union-bashing.

Is that the case in Fresno?

[northernlights]

8. it all started in a 5000 watt studio in Fresno, California.......nt

[senseandsensibility]

10. Ted Baxter

Is that you?

[EFerrari]

15. LOL.

[winstars]

34. Nice!!!! nt

[nilram]

17. It was once the center of an agricultural region

and made its money from distributors, packagers, and such. Now they've paved over the agricultural lands with streets, mini-mansions, and malls -- acres and acres of malls. From a commerce point of view, a couple of years ago it looked fine. Maybe there's some shuttered stores? Tsk, maybe its time to plant a garden there instead.

[AndyTiedye]

4. Good Move! Piss on the Part of the State Most Likely to Vote For Ya!

[madmax]

12. Let her speak ;-) nt

[musiclawyer]

5. Meg

F you. Fresno has it's problems and most of it is the fault of Dinosaur republicans that have run that Town into the ground for decades.

[political_Dem]

7. And Meg is a idiotic misanthrope who likes the taste of her foot in her mouth.

Especially one with cracked skin and athlete's foot. And since her mouth is so foul, she should try to keep her piehole shut so the rancid smell and noise emitted from it will not be detected.

:sarcasm:

[stevedeshazer]

9. Fresno: The home of Free Republic

:rofl:

So far, no comment over there.

[eleny]

11. Foot meets mouth

[NBachers]

13. So why doesn't she go run for governor of Detroit then?

[Fla_Democrat]

30. Is the governorship of Detroit up this year?

:hide:









:smoke:

[autorank]

14. This may cost her any chance that she had k*r

Fresno is right at the heart of the San Joaquin Valley, the nation's leading agribusiness area. It's the butt of jokes by Californians, along with Bakersfield and Stockton. This is a huge insult. Typically, this area would be one that Whitman should win. But telling an area that gets called 'awful' that it's 'awful' is no way to get votes and a good method of losing them. Couldn't happen to a nicer candidate. Brown must get elected.

[EFerrari]

16. Fresno isn't the capital of freeperville for nothing.

They probably had the first "Impeach Obama" bumperstickers in the state. Whitman blew it with that comparison.

[autorank]

25. See what I mean about how others see the place;)

She's a nasty piece of work. Here's how the Fresno Bee (a McClatchy paper) handled it today.



They'll pound her until November on this one. It will help GOTV.

Brown is the kind of leader that can think creatively and get the state out of trouble. He must win.

btw, It's not just the Tea Party candidates that are morans. Whitman is 100% corporate.

And Boxer is going to wipe the floor with Fiorina. Have they started running the ads with Fiorina
saying she doesn't care where products are manufactured. That's a killer.

[pinboy3niner]

31. Shhh! Don't tell her that.

We want to encourage her to speak LOUDLY and OFTEN.

The rest of the country may make fun of us Californianuts, and we may deserve some of the abuse (especially after Prop 8), but we're not THAT batshitfuckincrazy. Her campaign ads could be used to coerce confessions at Abu Ghraib, and we don't cotton to the notion of billionaires buying our elections.

I think she's already toast, but if there's any doubt, her mouth will seal the deal. :)

:hi:

[tabatha]

18. some comments

"Fresno looks like Detroit. It's awful." Ok ..... I say "Meg Whitman looks like Jan Brewer. She`s awful."

~~~~~~~~`

Queen Meg strikes again! Shoving around employees wasn't enough for her. Now she wants to shove around entire cities. How big of a settlement payment will it take her to get out from beneath this gaffe?

California needs less Meg Whitman and more Walt Whitman!

~~~~~~~~`


I wouldn't exactly call Fresno a "city." It's more of an overgrown farm town.

~~~~~~~~`

Fresno looks like Detroit because it has had Conservative leadership for the past 20 years. There has been a small percent off of Fresno and many of them don’t live in the Central Valley.
I’m an economic refugee from Fresno but moved to Minneapolis and when people ask me why I left, it is
Because the Conservatives who were voted in ran it into the ground. Uncontrolled Development, Out of Control Police and Sheriff's dept, lack of money for preventative programs like Parks and Recreation. If Whitman really knew Fresno, she would know that Fresno was declining before the Recession. In fact when people were getting excited about voting for a Conservative President in 2000, I told them if you want to see what Conservatives do to our city, check out Fresno. We don’t need more Conservatives, and Fresno doesn’t need Whitman.

[Bozita]

19. In defense of Detroit, fuck you Meg Whitman!

[Canuckistanian]

24. Insulting another major city may earn her some percentage points

But not an OUNCE of class....

[Bitwit1234]

20. All that money she has spent trying to buy the governorship

she could have helped California instead of wasting it.

[JI7]

21. hasn't Fresno always looked like that unlike Detroit

[begin_within]

22. When you're a billionaire, everything looks awful except your own gated community or private island

[TomCADem]

23. Don't Worry! Nothing $20 Million More In Ads Won't Fix!

Its great to be a billionaire with money to burn.

[avaistheone1]

27. Lol

So true!

[Octafish]

26. Detroit to Fresno: ''Meg Whitman is awful.''

Ignorant and rich is no way to go through life.

[Politicalboi]

28. Good going NutMeg

Actually Fresno looks like Lancaster Ca.

[jaysunb]

29. Fresno WANTS to be left behind

otherwise, why would they elect so many right wingers :shrug:

[XemaSab]

33. Good job, Meg

Fresno is a mess because of the undervaluing of agriculture and the overvaluing of homes.

Another way to put it: it's capitalism run amok.

I hope the city and county powers that be are ashamed of what they did to that town.

[Techn0Girl]

35. She's almost right...

What;s really happened is that Detroit is starting to look like Fresno.

[devilgrrl]

36. That would make a great fake campaign sticker for Whitman

"Fresno looks like Detroit. It's awful." Whitman for Governor!

:evilgrin: