At a joint appearance last week, California’s two major gubernatorial candidates were asked if they would each agree to take down their negative ads. Democrat Jerry Brown immediately said he would if Republican Meg Whitman did. Ms. Whitman declined – twice. The audience booed.
Ms. Whitman, former CEO of eBay, is already down in the race, and a handshake with former Governor Brown might not have made a difference, but it couldn’t have hurt. Instead, she looked determined to remain negative, which didn’t help her on likability.
Bottom line: Few voters will remember the content of negative ads she ran in the final week, but they might have remembered a photo of her and Brown looking collegial. Whitman’s multiple miscues in the race demonstrate the risk of having a political novice run for such a high profile office.
