A group of U.S. combat veterans challenged Meg Whitman to come clean about why she has failed to exercise the right to vote they fought to protect with their wartime service in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan. At a news conference in front of her East Los Angeles headquarters yesterday, the veterans released a letter addressed to the GOP gubernatorial nominee, asking Whitman to participate in an honest discussion with veterans about her voting record and her economic plans for the state.
Vietnam war veteran Bobby De La Cruz:
We are proud of our service to America and to have Meg Whitman expect to buy her way into the Governor’s office after showing no interest in our democratic process for 30 years is downright insulting. We fought to protect the right of our fellow citizens to participate in our democracy, not to enable a Wall Street CEO to stage a hostile takeover of our state.
The veterans said they question Whitman’s motivation to be Governor now, when she hasn’t bothered voting for most of her adult life.
According to Iraq war veteran Mark Starr:
Meg couldn’t be bothered to even register to vote for nearly 20 years, so I really question her motivation for wanting to be Governor now after a career as a Wall Street insider. We’d like Meg to sit down with us and explain why she thinks the democracy our fellow soldiers died to protect is worth so little of her time.
Meg’s failure to vote has been well documented in the news media. She has said her voting record is “unacceptable” but has failed to provide meaningful answers as to why she was not registered to vote for much of her adult life. Records show that since registering California in 2002, Whitman has voted only sporadically. Among other elections, Whitman did not vote in the 2004 and 2006 primaries when her party selected nominees for President and Governor.
The letter signed by combat veterans representing the Army, Marines, and Navy asks Whitman to have an honest discussion with veterans about her voting record and her economic plans for California, “We hope that you take this request more seriously than you’ve taken participating in the democracy we fought to protect,” the letter concludes.
