Whitman has kind words for Clinton, evasive on Palin

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With Bill Clinton set to take the stage at a Los Angeles rally supporting Democratic gubernatorial nominee Jerry Brown, we asked Republican Meg Whitman what she thought of the former president’s two terms in the Oval Office. Turns out, she liked a number of things, namely the fact that he was an EBay fan.

‘I think there were many good things about Bill Clinton’s presidency. He was a big EBay buyer. He bought a lot of his Clinton memorabilia on EBay,’ she told reporters Friday after a campaign stop in suburban Sacramento. ‘So I think there were many good things about his presidency, but he’s obviously out here because he’s a Democrat, a dyed-in-the-wool Democrat, and he’s trying to help Democrats across the country.’

Whitman visited an In-N-Out Burger as part of her continuing bus tour of California, which kicked off this week. She ordered a chocoloate milkshake, spoke with customers and posed for pictures.

Standing in the shade of her bus, dubbed the ‘Take Back Sac Express,’ Whitman also weighed in on Sarah Palin, who was visiting Sacramento on Friday as well and will hold a rally Saturday in Anaheim. Whitman is not scheduled to appear with the former vice presidential candidate and has said scheduling conflicts are keeping the two apart.

Asked whether she thought Palin was qualifed to be president, Whitman said: ‘Technically, she’s qualified to be president because you have to be a U.S. citizen and be in good standing. I think the voters of the United States are going to decide who’s going to be the next Republican nominee and there’s going to be a lot of competition for that.’

She added: ‘I’ll probably be for Mitt Romney as I was for the last cycle before I helped out John McCain.’

-- Michael J. Mishak in Sacramento