Where does Whitman stand on pensions?

Hard to say. Back on March 12 the Republican candidate for governor vowed to switch all new state employees to 401(k)-style pension plans, which is being strongly opposed by the unions. But two weeks later Whitman amended those comments by saying that public safety workers should be allowed to keep their traditional pension plans. Why the turnabout? Well, she might have been trying to win support from those same public safety employees - specifically the California State Law Enforcement Association, and its president, Alan Barcelona. From the Weekly:

Barcelona's name came up during the controversy over a voice mail recording in which an aide to Jerry Brown, or possibly his wife, is heard referring to Whitman as a "whore." On Sept. 7, Brown left the voice mail for Scott Rate of the Los Angeles Police Protective League. In the message, he complained about Barcelona and CSLEA's support for Whitman. After failing to hang up the phone, Brown can be heard suggesting that Whitman had cut a "secret deal" to protect public safety pensions in exchange for law enforcement support. Barcelona denied that allegation. "There never was a secret deal," he said.

But Whitman keeps wobbling. She says that that the pension reform efforts by Gov. Schwarzenegger were only "a baby step in the right direction," adding that more needs to be done to guarantee the pension system's solvency. But Barcelona said there was nothing left for her to do. "I think that's pretty much done," he said, which tells you how this group really feels about pension reform.