# Meg Whitman is a whore? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [October 8, 2010, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meg-whitman-is-a-whore/556475 "2010-10-08T12:39:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Aswan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c68b51/32.png) [@Aswan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aswan)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meg-whitman-is-a-whore/556475/1 "2010-10-08T12:39:04Z")
During yet another acidentally recorded conversation, Jerry Brown is involved in a rant about Meg Whitman and an aide calls her a whore. Jerry lets it go (kind of a tacit acknowledgement in my opinion) and simply continues his rant. I live in Florida and it’s getting pretty red here. I think something like this would be significant to our voters. But California is still pretty blue. Whitman is down about 7% in the race. Is this a game changer? Or will Californians let it fade into the background noise? ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meg-whitman-is-a-whore/556475/2 "2010-10-08T14:07:10Z")
[Jerry Brown associate: Call Meg Whitman ‘whore’](http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1010/43315.html) > [@](#): > > Brown campaign spokesman Clifford Sterling confirmed the authenticity of the call, which Whitman’s camp has begun to seize on to attack Brown. [Whitman’s spending $450,000 of her own money a day](http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g4fA0CkYIRO41pihcL59lBosV8WQD9ILVC980?docId=D9ILVC980) to buy the governorship. She’s still trailing, and the best she can do is cling to a one-off private remark by someone who is not Brown? Things are not looking good for the gal who treats the governor’s job like a whore. ---
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meg-whitman-is-a-whore/556475/3 "2010-10-08T15:22:16Z")
Using women’s sexuality to demean them is so pervasive and accepted in our culture that most people won’t even get why this is at all remarkable and will turn the situation into one about a whiny, “bitchy” woman who can’t handle the pressures involved in politics. Non-event in the big scheme of things, certainly not one that’s going to help Whitman. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meg-whitman-is-a-whore/556475/4 "2010-10-08T15:28:26Z")
Can someone help me decipher the meaning of what’s being said? The transcript is a bit hard to follow. > [@Politico article](#): > > “Do we want to put an ad out? That I have been warned if I crack down on pensions, I will be that they’ll go to Whitman, and that’s where they’ll go because they know Whitman will give 'em, will cut them a deal, but I won’t,” Brown said. > > A second voice then jumps in and says, “What about saying she’s a whore?” > > “Well, I’m going to use that,” Brown responds on the recording. “It proves you’ve cut a secret deal to protect the pensions.” It doesn’t seem like the term “whore” is meant in any literal sense, but I can’t figure out what they’re referring to. ---
**Author:** ![Aswan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c68b51/32.png) [@Aswan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aswan)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meg-whitman-is-a-whore/556475/5 "2010-10-08T15:38:31Z")
Here’s one source: [Brown Campaign Apologizes After Aide Calls Whitman a ‘Whore’](http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/10/08/jerry-brown-campaign-apologizes-after-aide-called-meg-whitman-a/) ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meg-whitman-is-a-whore/556475/6 "2010-10-08T15:39:28Z")
> [@C3](#): > > Using women’s sexuality to demean them is so pervasive and accepted in our culture that most people won’t even get why this is at all remarkable That’s hardly exclusive to women; ask Bill Clinton. (Yes, perjury was the real underlying issue in that case, but the bulk of Republican attacks in the court of public opinion were sneers at Clinton for being a sleazy pervert horndog.) > [@VinylTurnip](#): > > Can someone help me decipher the meaning of what’s being said? The transcript is a bit hard to follow. > > > [@Politico article](#): > > > > “Do we want to put an ad out? That I have been warned if I crack down on pensions, I will be that they’ll go to Whitman, and that’s where they’ll go because they know Whitman will give 'em, will cut them a deal, but I won’t,” Brown said. > > > > A second voice then jumps in and says, “What about saying she’s a whore?” > > > > “Well, I’m going to use that,” Brown responds on the recording. “It proves you’ve cut a secret deal to protect the pensions.” > > It doesn’t seem like the term “whore” is meant in any literal sense, but I can’t figure out what they’re referring to. In context, it’s rather clear that “whore” is being used in the non-sexual sense of someone who will shamelessly pander (again, in the non-sexual sense). ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meg-whitman-is-a-whore/556475/7 "2010-10-08T16:26:17Z")
I was pretty sure prior to reading this that the word ‘whore’ was being used in the political sense, and after reading the posted transcript I agree with **Steve MB**. That doesn’t make it ‘OK’ but it does give some context to the comment. I don’t think Whitman will be able to buy the office. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meg-whitman-is-a-whore/556475/8 "2010-10-08T16:52:37Z")
“Whore” has a legitimate metaphorical meaning in politics. It can be applied to men as well. ---
**Author:** ![Aswan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c68b51/32.png) [@Aswan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aswan)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meg-whitman-is-a-whore/556475/9 "2010-10-08T17:14:56Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > “Whore” has a legitimate metaphorical meaning in politics. It can be applied to men as well. While I understand and do take your point, I also think we have some apologetics going on here. You are construing the word in its connotative sense and we have all seen that, most acceptably in unambiguous terms: “He’s just an advertising whore.” However the denotative sense of the word is highly charged emotionally. In the Real World, when referring to a woman in almost \*any \*context as a whore, well, you’re usually going to have an interview with the HR Director. I think Meg Whitman will use this as cannon fodder to paint Brown in a \*very \*negative light. Were I Meg Whitman, I’d start running ads that say, “I want to create jobs in California. And Jerry Brown calls me a whore.” Negative? Oh, yeah. Effective. Very likely. The question is: will it be enough to close the gap? ---
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meg-whitman-is-a-whore/556475/10 "2010-10-08T17:19:43Z")
It’s an interesting question. I would like to think that Californians care enough about the Governor race that they won’t be swayed by something as meaningless as this, but I am not really sure. The other factor you have to consider is that Whitman has already gone about as negative as you can possibly go with her campaign ads and has been flooding the California airwaves with them for a solid month and Brown’s lead has only grown in that time. I don’t know that this will be more than a blip. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meg-whitman-is-a-whore/556475/11 "2010-10-08T17:49:45Z")
Whom does this sway? Did he get on the stump & say, “That whore!”? If it’s a private conversation, well, who doesn’t expect this kind of talk about the other side? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meg-whitman-is-a-whore/556475/12 "2010-10-08T18:04:42Z")
> [@Aswan](#): > > The question is: will it be enough to close the gap? If she’s down 4 or 5 or 7 percent and falling? No. I haven’t followed this race very closely but given the caveats on this remark - Brown was not the speaker, the meaning is not clear, and enthusiasm is low - I don’t see it helping her much. And not nearly enough to close that gap. I think it’s unbelievable that Jerry Brown is probably going to be governor of California. It’s amazing that anybody can get re-elected to a job he last held 25-plus years ago, nevermind that people wrote Brown off as a nut a long time ago. ---
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meg-whitman-is-a-whore/556475/13 "2010-10-08T18:16:13Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > It’s amazing that anybody can get re-elected to a job he last held 25-plus years ago, nevermind that people wrote Brown off as a nut a long time ago. Crazy isn’t it? But if anything he is better qualified to lead California now than he was then. He isn’t really considered a nut anymore, at least not in California. He has continued to be part of California politics for almost the entire time serving as Mayor and Attorney General, and if there is anyone who can navigate the stupid and broken political machine that is California it’s him. Beyond the fact that I dislike her politics and the way she has conducted the campaign both against Brown and previously against her Rupublican opponent in the primaries, I honestly do not believe that an outsider will be anything other than totally ineffectual as Governer right now. Arnold has tried and failed to get anything fixed, and I really do think he has been trying. I also believe that Brown has California’s best interests at heart and is legitimately interested in fixing the broken machine. ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meg-whitman-is-a-whore/556475/14 "2010-10-08T18:22:04Z")
Why this doesn’t mean anything - all politicians are whores to some extent. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meg-whitman-is-a-whore/556475/15 "2010-10-08T18:44:17Z")
In a private conversation, a campaign aide called an opponent a bad name! Stop the presses! Whitman is desperate. Despite spending $100 million of her own money, she was only running neck and neck with Brown - before the housekeeper scandal. Her campaign admits it needs a good chunk of the Latino vote to win, and she tossed it away. The problem, according to an analysis I read in the paper today, is not that she had hired an illegal, and not that she was too stupid to check, and not even that she fired her. It was that when she fired her she refused to help, and said I don’t know you and you don’t know me. That reenforces the stereotype of the heartless CEO who crushes the little guy. Given the lack of knowledge of her positions, character is very important, she ruined hers. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meg-whitman-is-a-whore/556475/16 "2010-10-08T18:45:31Z")
> [@Bone](#): > > Why this doesn’t mean anything - all politicians are whores to some extent. Of all the names one could call her, whore is the least accurate. Whores don’t pay for it. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meg-whitman-is-a-whore/556475/17 "2010-10-08T19:19:27Z")
So what’s the deal on pensions? Whitman will cut a deal to save police pensions and Brown won’t? Why is this not bad for Brown? ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meg-whitman-is-a-whore/556475/18 "2010-10-08T20:16:12Z")
It’ll dominate the news cycle for a day or two. If Brown’s numbers dip in the short term, it’ll live on, but otherwise probably not. > [@Voyager](#): > > …not that she had hired an illegal, and not that she was too stupid to check… Nitpick: She checked, and the housekeeper gave her a false SSN. ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meg-whitman-is-a-whore/556475/19 "2010-10-08T20:21:06Z")
One of Whitman’s campaign positions is that pension reform is needed to fix the CA financial situation. The allegation is that she would exempt the police pensions in exchange for an endorsement. Brown (in the tape) says that Whitman would cut a deal and that he wont because their [the police pensions] are part of the problem too. Police unions have subsequently endorsed Whitman. [Article](http://blogs.laweekly.com/informer/politics/whore-scott-rate-jerry-brown-l/) > [@](#): > > Whitman and Brown have each vowed to crack down on the state’s bloated pension plans. Brown has suggested raising the retirement age and boosting employees’ contributions to keep the pension fund solvent. > > Whitman has proposed switching new state employees to a 401(k) plan. But as far back as March 24, when she addressed the Alliance of California Law Enforcement, Whitman has promised to carve out an exception for public safety employees, who she believes deserve to keep their defined benefit plans. > > Whitman said the same thing in her endorsement interview with the LAPPL on Aug. 12. By contrast, Brown has declined to explicitly exempt public safety employees from his pension proposals. I say this whole “whore” thing makes Brown look better. The story isn’t that a candidate called another candidate a name when he thought he wasn’t being recorded. I think the real story is the substance of why he [his aid really] would call her a whore. Is she whoring out for the endorsement? Seems like it. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2010, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meg-whitman-is-a-whore/556475/20 "2010-10-08T20:24:03Z")
I don’t know how California politics works, but I have a hard time imagining being in the pocket of Big Police as much of a problem. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meg-whitman-is-a-whore/556475.md?page=2)