Will Meg Whitman do to California what she did to eBay?

Former eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) Chief Executive Meg Whitman reportedly is quitting the board of the online auctioneer along with Procter & Gamble Co. (NYSE: PG), and Dreamworks Animation SKG Inc. (NYSE: DWA) to run for governor of California.

The news -- first reported by the Wall Street Journal -- should not warm the hearts of Californians. Under Whitman, eBay morphed from one of the leaders on the information superhighway to roadkill left on the side of the road. The company's high growth days are behind it.

Since leaving eBay last year, she has immersed herself in Republican politics, backing the campaigns of her old friend Mitt Romney and John McCain. Interestingly, her contemporary Carly Fiorina, ex head of Hewlett-Packard Co. (NASDAQ: HPQ), also backed the GOP.

Should Whitman take the plunge, the odds are against her. For one thing, no one outside of stock geeks and disgruntled eBay sellers knows her name. Of course, several million dollars worth of television advertising will take care of that.

California's problems are enormous. The state, which has been hit especially hard by the subprime mortgage crisis, faces a $42 billion budget deficit. State officials are threatening to pay their bills with IOUS. It's a situation that is trying the superhuman strength of the governator Arnold Schwarzenegger.

What makes Whitman believe she can do better?