Meg Whitman slips into Bakersfield for a meeting

 It was a humorous scene at The Padre Hotel Tuesday afternoon when a scruffy band of about two dozen demonstrators showed up to protest the appearance of Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman, who was in town for a private meeting with supporters. The protesters, mostly union members carrying signs denouncing the "rich" and "corporate" America, were marching in a circle in front of the main Padre entrance on H Street. The problem: the Padre has two entrances and a white sedan carrying Whitman simply drove up to the 18th Street entrance where she stepped out unmolested-all the while the protestors chanted on the other side of the building.