Hank Plante
InstantRiverside.com

You can debate the she said/she said nature of the Meg Whitman/housekeeper story, but there is one overriding fact in this controversy: it is the last thing that the Republican gubernatorial candidate needs right now. That’s because the election may well come down to the state’s Latino voters – the fast-growing voter group in California.

In Riverside County, for example, the Latino population is 44.7% — making us the 11th largest Hispanic population in the U.S. (according to U.S. Census figures released this past June). Statewide, 37% of California is made-up of Latino residents, a number that will exceed 50% (a majority) within the next two decades.

So whatever the facts, this current controversy, which pits a billionaire employer against a part-time Latina housekeeper, puts Whitman in an uncomfortable contrast.

Whitman says she followed the letter-of-the-law, firing the housekeeper when her immigration status became known. That happens to be the exact same policy that Whitman recommends for other employers, as part of her immigration plan.

But the fact that the housekeeper was able to work for Whitman for nine years using fraudulent working documents, shows how difficult that screening policy would be for any employer to follow, let alone Whitman herself.

Whitman has focused heavily on Latino voters. She had what she called a “tough as nails” immigration policy during the Republican primary, to distinguish herself from her more conservative Republican opponent, Steve Poizner. But after winning that primary she softened her tone and moved to the center (as all nominees must do), running Spanish-language ads saying she opposes Arizona’s tough new immigration law.

And if you have any doubt about about the interest in this election by Latino voters, consider that the second Whitman-Brown debate, this Saturday, October 2nd, will be broadcast by Univision in Fresno. It is the first-ever Spanish media gubernatorial debate in state history.

Univision notes that 21% of all California voters are Latino – nearly half of whom have registered to vote over the past eight years. Nationally, about 54% of Latino voters vote Democrat, and only 13% vote Republican. But Whitman had been making significant gains among those voters recently, according to her campaign.

How she diffuses this controversy, both in Saturday’s debate and in the weeks afterwards, could determine whether her $119 million dollar campaign was worth it, or just a footnote in state political history.

About Hank:

Hank Plante is an Emmy Award-winning political reporter who spent three decades covering California politics for TV stations in Los Angeles and San Francisco. He lives in Palm Springs.

Filed under Headline

Thursday, September 30, 2010

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