Dear Meg Whitman: Please Emigrate from California.

Money can't buy do-overs

          Although I am no political analyst, I certainly think that the once tight race for the governorship of California is rapidly slipping through the fingers of one Meg Whitman, whose alleged behavior toward her ex-housekeeper, an illegal immigrant, compounded with her inability to appear at all sympathetic in Saturday's debate (which, incidentally, was moderated by the nationally-syndicated Spanish-speaking Univision Network) has her sinking fast in the polls, especially among Latinos, the very demographic group that she had spent millions of dollars attempting to cater to in the earlier half of her campaign.  While Whitman alleges that she had no grounds to suspect that Nicky Diaz Santillian was an illegal immigrant during her nine years of service, there is much evidence to the contrary.  Although, as Whitman has noted, the timing (right before the second debate between the candidates, and the first-ever California gubernatorial debate moderated in Spanish) seems a little too "perfect," Whitman is offering no real explanations in the face of the allegations--indeed, she has taken to blaming everyone but herself: Ms. Santillian, Jerry Brown, even her own husband.  Regardless of her political views, this does not speak very highly of Ms. Whitman's character, and, as Mr. Brown pointed out in the debate, demonstrates that Whitman does not necessarily take accountability for her actions, something he noted was fundamental to one's ability to successfully govern.
          After watching two gubernatorial debates, what strikes me most about Ms. Whitman is the way in which she presents herself--as a business-minded executive, who does not seem to empathize with the problems of those not affiliated with corporations.  Although she certainly sounded less scripted in the second debate, I still found her responses relatively disturbing.  Her response to a Fresno State student who professed to be an undocumented immigrant herself about a path to legalization for college students and the possibility of tuition assistance for such individuals (i.e. the DREAM initiative) proved her stance on Immigration to be much more stringent than she had previously admitted.  Personally, I agree with a statement she made; I think that immigration is indeed a "complex issue"--but I think she is taking absolutely the wrong stance on the issue.  We certainly do need immigration laws, but we also need to have a degree of compassion for illegal immigrants, who, by circumstance, are generally forced into the lowest-income, manual labor jobs.  These people are not, as Whitman claims, "a drain on the economy;" on the contrary, they are the very backbone of the California economy, which thrives, to a certain extent, on exploitation.
          Although Brown didn't necessarily emerge as victor in this debate, Whitman certainly emerged as the loser--she appeared harsh and apathetic and said exactly the wrong things.  While Whitman may not lose all of the Latino vote, I am relatively certain that after this debate, she will not garner the 30+ percent of Latino support that experts say a Republican candidate needs in order to win the race.  So it goes when one alienates a politically potent minority.