It is early in the campaign cycle, and she was fortunate enough to escape a lot of media attention for it. But California GOP Gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman might have just lapped the field in the contest for the most laughable excuse in the 2010 campaign.
As voters discovered last week, Whitman has compiled one of the most shoddy voting records of any candidate in recent memory, apparently not even bothering to register to vote until she was in her mid-40s (and, as a special treat for the wingnutty base, not even registering as a Republican until 2007).
We now have a reason, though: she was doing it for the kids:
Whitman sought to explain her spotty voting record for the first time after delivering a speech to a Republican women's group.
"I was focused on raising a family, on my husband's career, and we moved many, many times," she told reporters. "It is no excuse. My voting record, my registration record, is unacceptable."
I, for one, totally understand. I did not miss an opportunity to vote from the age of 18 until last month, when I skipped a lopsided special election for the state legislature. You see, I noticed lately that my children had grown up so fast, and I realized that if I hadn't spent all that time voting, I would have been there for it all. Those ten-to-fifteen minutes, two or three times a year, had robbed my children of their father.
In fact, I am shocked that Harry Chapin didn't include a verse about voting in his classic song on the subject: