Triple, Triple, Toil & Trouble

Today we cannibalize Eleanor Clift, mostly to steal this lovely triptych:

Fiorina, Whitman, McMahon: Three Faces Of Evil

These aren’t moms in tennis shoes, or earnest reformers who got their starts on the school board or with the League of Women Voters, or, on the right, women who cut their teeth in the right-to-life movement. They’re playing from the men’s tee, elbows out and with their own money. Whitman is outspending her opponent in the California gubernatorial race, Democrat Jerry Brown, 86 to 1. One report said she spent more in one day than he has during the entire campaign. She has already dropped $100 million and is on track to become the biggest spender in a state with a long record of affluent people seeking office on the coattails of their money. According to a survey done earlier this year by The San Diego Union-Tribune, only one of 18 self-funded notables running since 1964 got elected, and that was Arnold Schwarzenegger, who spent “only” $6 million of his money, a pittance compared with Whitman.

No, far from "earnest reformers," as the (non)voting or registration records of these three indicate.

What it is all about:

Democrat Richard Blumenthal, the state’s attorney general, says she’s turning the race into an auction by vowing to spend up to $50 million of her money. Asked to respond to the charge, McMahon says it’s money she earned, and that she’s investing in herself as a public servant.

Democracy at work. Why should candidates wait for voters to invest in them, when they can invest in themselves? Eliminate the middle-person. Kick 'em in the nuts, even. Hell, it's the American way.