We told you here how California Democrats are hopeful the marijuana-legalization initiative will help the ticket in November despite the party's gubernatorial nominee coming out against it.
Republicans are hopeful the anti-immigration fervor does the same for their ticket despite the party's gubernatorial nominee having billboards in Latino communities that declare, “No a la Proposici n 187 y no a la ley de
Arizona.”
(Translation: “No on Proposition 187 and no on the Arizona law.”)
]
The San Bernardino Sun has a fascinating piece on Meg Whitman's political two-step on the immigration issue.
The billionaire repeats the same anti-187/SB 1070 message in Spanish-language radio commercials, but one place you won't find it is on her English-language website.
Huh? Why's that?
Oh, because most voters already know her immigration views as they came up during the primary, claims a Latino campaign spokesman.
“I don't think there's much confusion as to where we stand on
the Arizona law,” Hector Barajas tells the Sun. “Within the Spanish-speaking audience, there
have been questions–because we have `Republican' by our name–as to
whether we support the Arizona law or not.”
We all know her views on gun control, the death penalty and prison reform from the primary also, but those are clearly repeated on her site.
Some in her party aren't eating the chicken taco Whitman is serving, raising fears she could drive away conservatives, other anti-illegals Republicans and, of course, those precocious teabaggers.
Of course, it's not like conservatives, other anti-illegals Republicans
and those precocious teabaggers are going to vote for Governor Moonbeam 2.0. As one academic points
out in the piece, “All Meg Whitman has to do is be a little to the
right of
Jerry Brown.”
Hey, is that a snarky reference to Arnold Schwarzenegger?
Whomever that is a snarky reference to, Whitman's immigration talk worries Tim Donnelly, the Republican candidate for the 59th Assembly
District seat, even if it is only coming out of one side of her mouth.
[
Donnelly tells the Sun that his party standard bearer's stand could keep many folks who'd normally vote for her from visiting the polls or mailing in absentee ballots.
“We're going to know whether or not it works by how many votes they pick up from the Latino community as opposed to how many they lose from conservatives,” says the former Twin Peaks Minuteman, who has vowed to introduce a law similar to Arizona's if
he is elected.
It's already not working for Raymond Herrera, founder of the anti-illegals We The People, California's
Crusader, who says in the piece he won't vote for Whitman because he believes the ads
for the Latino community show she is not committed to securing California's borders.
“She doesn't care about illegal immigrants coming
into California,” he says. “She just cares about becoming governor. . . . It's
impossible to be on both sides of the political line on this issue.”
Whitman's site does trickle out this bone to folks like Herrera: she supports legislation that would prevent the children of illegal immigrants from attending state universities and
community colleges (like that will ever get out of committee in Sacramento).
That distinction has created an in for the Brown campaign to paint Whitman as a hypocrite.
“She doesn't think the children of undocumented workers should
be able to go to college, but she does, apparently, believe that saying the opposite
now will work,” Brown spokesman Sterling
Clifford tells the Sun. “And I don't think California voters are going to fall for
it.”
Among those not falling for it is Joe Olague, president of the Inland
Empire council of the League of United Latin American Citizens.
“The Latino community is more sophisticated,” he says in the piece.
“Yes, immigration is a big issue; yes, it's created some hostility. But
the fact of the matter is . . . we have more and more families going to
places where they hand out food and clothing and other necessities.
Those are the issues that also have to be addressed.”
In English and Espanol, por favor.
OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.