Mitt Romney likes gays. Mitt Romney hates gays. Fifteen year ago Mitt Romney told a group of Log Cabin Republicans he'd support gays more vehemently than Ted Kennedy ever did. Today Mitt Romney is saying that he's doing everything in his power to stop gays from attaining the same basic rights all Americans enjoy.
Now eBay steps into the Mitt fray. Meg Whitman, CEO of the online auction company, was recently found sitting at Mitt Romney's fundraising telethon, enthusiastically calling friends to raise money for her pal. Quoted in the January 8th edition of the New York Times, Whitman said, "...I've never done anything like this before...I start out by saying: `You won't believe where I am! I'm at the Boston Convention Center with four or five hundred other people dialing for contributions for Mitt Romney.'"
CEO Whitman has a history of supporting the far right: Among the politicians she's given money to are Utah senator Orrin Hatch, Wisconsin congressman James Sensenbrenner, famous for his opposition to civil (and any other) rights; and former Senator George Allen of Virginia, who lost his re-election campaign after the famous Macaca Incident in which Allen called a non-Caucasian audience member a monkey.
So what can you do about Ms. Whitman? Probably nothing. Ebay has a virtual monopoly on on-line auctions. No one's going to stop being an eBayer because its chairperson is a kook. All you can do is wait until something better comes along. In the meantime, however, you can tell the company how you feel by by sending an email to press@ebay.com, or call the eBay media hotline at 408.376.7458 Or, perhaps, you can start your own auction on eBay: For sale--one CEO of a large Internet company.
Ps: I just received this statement from eBay:
"As a private citizen, Meg has opted to support a longtime friend and former colleague in his quest for the 2008 Presidential nomination. Meg's decision is a personal choice and is not representative of the views or opinions of eBay Inc. eBay thoroughly respects Meg's ability to balance the day-to-day operational needs of our business, while also maintaining an ability to conduct her personal life in a way she deems appropriate."