Forum Thread: Meg Whitman's and Jerry Brown's Negative Ad Discussion

On October 26, 2010, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the two candidates had a discussion at the Maria Shriver's Women's Conference.  The discussion was about California's future and no one would be disrespected.  Matt Lauer, the co- anchor of NBC- TV asked the candidates if they would both be willing to make a pledge that would replace the negative ads with positive ads.  Since Whitman was against the pledge, Brown said, " First of all, you have to remember sometimes negativity is in the eye of the beholder."  The audience did not seem to agree with Brown so he quickly said that " If Meg wants to do that, I'll be glad to do that."  Meg Whitman responded by saying, " I will take down my ads that could even remotely be construed as a personal attack, but I don't think we can take down the ads that talk about where Gov. Brown stands in the issues."

           It would have been a great idea if Meg Whitman agreed to the pledge since she is loosing by a couple of points.  In a recent Los Angeles Times/ USC poll, 37% favor her and 52% don't.  Trying something new might let her gain a couple of points.  For Jerry Brown, it doesn't really matter if Meg Whitman agrees or disagrees with the pledge.  If Meg Whitman had agreed, it would save him some money.  Jerry Brown is also winning so getting rid of negative ads would make things easier for him.