Meg Whitman campaign rolls into Bakersfield

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Meg Whitman is taking the show on the road.

The Republican gubernatorial candidate rolled into Bakersfield on Thursday afternoon in a bright green bus, with her campaign’s core pledge plastered along the side: ‘JOBS ARE ON THE WAY.’ She spent about 30 minutes at Philliedog, a local hot dog chain, shaking hands, posing for pictures and making small talk with customers and restaurant staff.

The stop marked the latest phase for the Whitman campaign. Gone are the professionally staged events with professional lighting and hand-picked audiences. Those have been replaced with unscripted retail campaign stops like you might see during the early days of a presidential campaign in Iowa or New Hampshire.

Although much of the campaign has been waged on the airwaves, Whitman said she plans to spend the final weeks of the race on the trail, making her closing argument to California voters.

‘I want to get to every part of the state,’ Whitman told reporters. ‘This is what we’re going to do for the next 20 days, is be out with voters in restaurants, in schools, in places of business, and tell people how I want to turn the state around, which is getting people back to work and fixing our education system.’

At Philliedog, Whitman sat with a group of people and used a plastic knife to carve up a chili dog while several camera crews filmed the action. ‘I don’t think I could take this pressure,’ one man said, pointing to the TV cameras. ‘I’ve gotten used to it,’ Whitman said, taking a few bites of her chili dog.

Whitman and Democratic rival Jerry Brown have their work cut out for them if they hope to overcome the disgust felt by undecided voters like Ricky Joy. ‘It is what it is,’ said Joy, an Army sergeant. ‘You got her, and you got him. The things that everybody wants won’t happen anyway.’

He added: ‘Schwarzenegger flipped the state upside down. We just want somebody to flip it back over.’

Note to Brown: Philliedog has a make-your-own hot dog called ‘The Jerry,’ but its owner, Phillip Randolph, has endorsed Whitman.

-- Michael J. Mishak in Bakersfield