Meg Whitman (eBay): Occasional voter

by Mark Silva

Meg Whitman, the billionaire former CEO of eBay running for governor of California as a Republican, says she is ready for a political fight: "It is rough-and-tumble, but I say what I mean and I mean what I say.''

But now she is being asked about a press report, if it's true that she hadn't voted since the first President George Bush's election.

"I've been very straight up that my voting record isn't perfect,'' Whitman told the FOX Business Network's Neil Cavuto today. "I did not consistently vote,'' she said. "Like many Americans, I've missed too many elections..''

So who was the last president for whom she voted?

"I voted in the 1984 election in California,'' she replied. "I remember it very clearly.''

And the last president?

"George Bush (the first)... and John McCain, obviously.'' (She was a co-chair of he Arizona senator's campaign for president last year.)

The Whitman campaign is attempting to clarify her voting record. In a letter to the Sacramento Bee on Monday that was also distributed broadly to the media and talk radio hosts, Whitman communications director Tucker Bounds said: "Meg clearly remembers voting on multiple occasions, including the 1984 and 1988 presidential elections."

Asked what her voting says about her political "passion,'' Whitman told Cavuto today: "As I said, my voting record is not perfect but this is about the future of California and getting California back on track... I became very engaged in politics and how the government interacted with business. At eBay, we represented millions of small business selling services to have there sales stymied by taxation and regulation, so now I am very engaged.

"With regard to the Sacramento Bee (report), my record is not perfect. but I want it represented fairly and accurately, so we have taken them to task for that and Ii believe we will see a more accurate picture. They said that I had not voted until I was 46 years old, which was blatantly untrue.''

(Former eBay chief executive Meg Whitman is pictured above at a news conference at the California Republican Convention in Indian Wells, Calif., on Sept. 26..(Photo by Francis Specker / AP)

On the national front, Whitman says this about health care: "Everybody is for reforming the health care system of what can be improved, but I am not for those public options out there. You have to focus on cost, quality, access and we have to get the cost under control than provide access.''

President Barack Obama contends that increasing competition, including a public option, will rein in costs.

"I disagree,'' Whitman says. "The best way is to open the borders of the different states to more insurance competition there is limited competition in each state. Let's open it up and do some of the things we know we can do to reduce costs.''

On the mood in California, Whitman says: "I would say they're very worried about what is going on nationally but they know you cannot spend more than you take and on a consistent basis. They're very worried about the deficit and the cost of the things what we have been doing. They're worried about the future of their state as well.''

She has opposed legislation curtailing greenhouse gas emissions in California: "What it does-- the bill that brings down the greenhouse gas emissions-- puts California at a disadvantage to the neighboring states. We're bleeding jobs to Arizona, Colorado, Utah, Texas -- they don't have any regulation.

"I want great environmental standards in California but we cannot continue to lose jobs to neighboring states because we have the fourth highest unemployment rate in the country,'' she says, noting that "2.2 million Californians are out of work. Let's take a pause to make sure we understand the situation in which we find ourselves which is far more dire than when the bill was started..''

Would she say the same to the president about national limits on greenhouse gases?

"We have known each other for a long time,'' she says. "I am a believer in focus with. Let's do three things 100 percent and not a lot of other things until we get the three things done. And for the state of California i feel very strongly about creating and keeping jobs in California, getting government spending under control and fixing the K-12 education system.''

Cavuto asks if that's not easier said than done - she speaks of cutting state spending by $15 billion, eliminating redundant agencies and laying off upwards of 40,000 state employees - actions that others have spoken of in the past.

"This time we have to because we have a government we can no longer afford,'' she says. "Everyone agrees on that... We have to. I know I can lead this effort -- people in California are fed up.''

In light of her own experience and California's problems, might she consider putting state assets up for auction on eBay?

"It s one small part of what we should do,'' Whitman says. "I don't know about e-bay... There are surplus properties that should be sold. We have to look at the core drivers of the cost of the government and first is the number of people that work for the government, programs that have never sunset, employ technology to lower cost.''