Former eBay CEO rewrites campaign spending book
June 7, 2010 Those are a few of billionaire Meg Whitman's favorite things as
she carries out her remarkably lavish campaign for California
governor.
Whitman's top political consultant, Mike Murphy, makes $90,000 a
month. A crew of videographers and the former White House
photographer chronicle her stops around the Golden State. She
bought an entire TV channel at the host hotel during the state
convention while hiring consultants from Florida to Los Angeles to
help her blanket the airwaves with a never-ending stream of
advertising.
The former eBay CEO has spent more than $81 million so far - $71
million from her personal fortune. And if she wins the GOP
nomination on Tuesday, it marks only the halfway point in her quest
for office.
Whitman or her Republican rival, state Insurance Commissioner
Steve Poizner, will face Democratic candidate Jerry Brown and a
host of deep-pocketed, Democratic-aligned special interests in what
surely will be a record-setting spending spree.
Whitman's outsize spending, detailed in her recently filed
campaign fundraising report, stands in stark contrast to her
austerity plans for California should she win the primary and get
elected in November to replace Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
She is promising to dramatically cut state spending, eliminate
40,000 state workers and bring a "common sense" budgeting
approach to California.
The California Nurses Association, which supports Brown in the
governor's race, has already seized on the irony, launching a
campaign to stop Whitman from "crowning herself Queen of
California." The union has hired an actress to portray "Queen
Meg" outside some of Whitman's appearances.
Whitman says she is trying to run a "smart strategic
campaign," and wants to make sure all Californians have a chance
to hear her plan before they choose the next governor.
Political consultants are by far the biggest beneficiaries of
Whitman's largesse.
The Washington-based advertising agency Smart Media Group has
received more than $47 million from her campaign. Smart Media's
website says its goal is to "saturate your message without wasting
money." More than a dozen consultants on the campaign make more
than $15,000 a month.
Whitman's advertising assault includes all kinds of political
gimmicks. Among the unique and undoubtedly expensive tactics is a
30-minute, prerecorded town hall commercial and a cable TV spot
that lets viewers order a Whitman bumper sticker by pressing a
button on their remote control.
Whitman's campaign also spent $43,000 at the celebrity-favored
Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, $44,000 at the U.S. Grant Luxury
Collection Hotel in San Diego's historic Gaslamp district, $30,000
at an exclusive corporate resort in San Francisco, and $20,000 at
Bernardus Lodge & Winery, "nestled among the oaks and vineyards of
scenic Carmel Valley," according to its website.
She also has spent $530,000 on chartered plane service since
2009, on top of more than $700,000 in other travel costs.
Whitman has outspent Poizner 2-to-1 over the last two months,
just as he stepped up his campaign spending in the final stretch
before the primary.
Poizner is wealthy in his own right, after selling a GPS
cell-phone chip company for $1 billion. Yet the $25 million he has
spent from his own fortune seems almost minuscule by comparison.
Poizner also has hired a roster of highly paid Washington,
D.C.-based consultants, and the firm of his chief media strategist
has collected $17.5 million to date. Poizner's campaign manager,
Jim Bognet, saw his salary jump from $18,000 to $25,000 a month in
February.
Poizner's campaign finance reports do not break out most
individual salaries, however, making it difficult to compare with
Whitman's.
Meanwhile, Brown is running lean. The attorney general and
former governor has relied on unpaid volunteers and finally hired
campaign manager Steven Glazer, who is now making $15,000 a month
after working for free much of last year.
Brown has spent just $400,000 so far this year - about $4,400 on
budget-friendly Southwest Airlines - and has banked $20.6 million
from fundraising efforts.
He has said he is saving his resources for what undoubtedly will
be a costly general election run.