Meg Whitman: Former CEO, Candidate for California Governor, and Homophobe

So...Meg Whitman (former CEO of Ebay) is running for governor of California in 2010. Arnold Schwarzenegger can't run, since he faces state-imposed term limits, so the race is fairly wide open. Whitman has the potential to raise a great deal of money from Republicans in the state, who view her as a valued businesswoman and a potentially capable leader, so she's a formidable candidate.

Unlike most Silicon Valley Republicans, however, Whitman has focused her positions less on lower taxes and more on hot-button social issues like abortion and gay marriage. In fact, of all the Republicans seen as potential 2010 candidates, Whitman is the only one who publicly (and repeatedly) proclaimed her support for Proposition 8, which denied California gay and lesbians the right to marry.

This is not a smart move for Whitman. Many Ebay employees feel betrayed by her shift to the far right on social issues. In particular, her support for Proposition 8 has led Ebay sellers to organize a boycott against the website. Even Whitman's longtime executive assistant, Anita Gaeta, is an out lesbian who lives with her partner in San Jose. I wonder how SHE feels about Whitman's Prop. 8 support. Oh, and several current and former Ebay executives, including founder Pierre Omidyar, lent their support to opposition of Proposition 8 in a newspaper advertisement before last November's election. Will they support her candidacy or contribute to its fundraising now? Not likely.

California prefers its political leaders to be centrists. Schwarzenegger (who opposed Prop. 8, although not in a very public manner) is an example of this trend, along with Whitman's two top contenders, former Representative Tom Campbell and Steve Poizner, the state's insurance commissioner, who repeatedly opposed Proposition 8 before the election.

Let's hope that Whitman's loud support for Proposition 8 will lead to major problems for her campaign. Repealing Proposition 8 is a major goal for politically active gays and lesbians, and the idea of a governor who supports blatant discrimination is a nauseating thought.