President Meg Whitman: Is Ex-eBay CEO a Good Choice As McCain VP?
John McCain has picked his running mate (announcement tomorrow) and a theory in Denver is that it’s ex-eBay CEO Meg Whitman. If true, is this a good choice?
After some thought, we actually think it is.
That wasn’t our first reaction. But our current impression of Meg is colored by the fact that we hold her responsible for the collapse of eBay. (Meg was solid in her early years as eBay CEO, but, in our opinion, she then retired on the job. eBay stopped innovating about eight years ago, shifted into cruise control, made some ludicrous acquisitions to try to prop up growth, and ultimately smashed into the rocks.)
Overall, we think the perception of Meg’s CEO skills exceeds the reality.* But that said…
Meg has a ton going for her as a running
- Good national consumer brand (not hers–eBay’s)
- Instantly approachable and likeable (just a regular billionaire mom)
- Smart, well-educated (America doesn’t care about this, but it helps)
- Charming and self-deprecating, but also confident (even when making dumb decisions)
- Huge business cred–in Silicon Valley, Wall Street, Washington, and corporate America (especially useful given cratering economy and declining American competitiveness)
- Plenty of experience dealing with criticism, press, adulation, screams, etc.
- Perfect for image McCain trying to re-cultivate: Maverick choice without being scary
- Unlikely to have scandalous skeletons in closet (Never say never, but we just don’t see Meg arranging secret gigolo trysts)
- Hard to attack without looking petty, mean, and/or sexist
- Beneficiary of American Dream, without being yet another rich white guy like Romney
Meg wouldn’t need any of these attributes as vice president, of course: All she’d need to do is smile, glad-hand, and avoid embarrassing her boss. But as a vice-presidential candidate–and, more importantly, as President of the United States–she’d need all of them.
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