The star of Meg Whitman’s 40-minute appearance Wednesday at Yelp headquarters in San Francisco was Susan McKay. The 24-year-old account exec from Walnut Creek fired a question at the GOP guv that’s been the talk of the nation (and the subject of our story the other day): Meg’s widely-discredited ad featuring a 1992 clip of Bill Clinton ripping Jerry Brown’s tax record as CA guv.

The short version of Susan’s question — uttered there before her fellow Yelp employees and bosses:

“Why are you refusing to remove an ad that has been proven to be false and therefore misleading? Why would you knowingly and purposely run a campaign that is based on lies?

Why have you made smear tactics and an overall negative focus such hallmarks of your campaign? It doesn’t seem to me that defaming your opponent will help California in any way?”

The room burst into applause.

Here’s our Shaky Hand Productions capture of the moment as McKay launches, complete with Meg’s answer:

Meg defended the ad, in summary saying: “The essentials of that ad are absolutely true.”

The “essentials” are absolutely true? Would you like some salt on that parse-ly?

Meg continued to defend why negative ads are a painful necessity:

“You know what, politics is a tough business. And you have got to tell people why to vote for you,” Whitman said, noting that she has run a “series of very positive ads” over the past 20 months about “my vision for California.” “But you also have to set the record straight on your opponent. So I stand by that ad. It was the right thing to do.”

Afterwards, Shaky Hand Productions was there to ask Susan — who said she is not affiliated with Jerry Brown’s campaign or any anti-Meg outfit — if she was satisfied with Meg’s answer: