Whitman Beefs Up Latino Outreach

At LAT, "Whitman courts Latinos in bid to defuse controversy over maid":

GOP candidate for governor has purchased more ads in Spanish-language media and given interviews to Univision and Telemundo.

Meg Whitman's campaign for governor has doubled its advertising on Spanish-language radio and increased the number of its Latino television spots by roughly 50% as the former EBay chief executive seeks to blunt the impact of news that she employed, then fired, an illegal immigrant as a housekeeper.

Publicly, Whitman's campaign aides say the controversy over her former housekeeper, Nicandra Diaz Santillan, will not harm Whitman's prospects among Latino voters, especially after the multimillion-dollar investment she has already made to reach them.

Latinos "care about jobs, and we've been in that community communicating for a year trying to earn their support every day," said Mike Murphy, Whitman's senior strategist.
But the campaign's actions portray greater concern.

In addition to bolstering the ad volume on Spanish-language media, according to a well-placed source familiar with the ad purchases, Whitman's first sit-down interview Thursday after she held a news conference about Diaz Santillan was with the Spanish-language Univision network followed by Telemundo. On Friday, the campaign released a list of two dozen Latino business leaders who have endorsed Whitman, including Joel Ayala, the former president and chief executive of the California Hispanic Chambers of Commerce.

Whitman also conducted a flurry of media interviews Friday — a day which she might otherwise have devoted to preparation for a debate Saturday with her opponent, Democrat Jerry Brown, which will be aired on the Spanish-language Univision network.

She continued to deny allegations by Diaz Santillan's attorney, Gloria Allred, that she had exploited the former housekeeper and knowingly employed her despite her undocumented status. Whitman says that she relied on an employment agency to hire Diaz Santillan, who had given the agency a fake Social Security number and California driver's license.

She maintains that during the nine years Diaz Santillan worked for her, neither she nor her husband had any reason to suspect their housekeeper was an illegal immigrant. Allred has produced a 2003 letter sent to Whitman by the Social Security Administration that states Diaz Santillan's name does not match her Social Security number. The letter appears to bear a note in Whitman's husband's handwriting.

In an interview on Fox TV with Sean Hannity, Whitman accused Democrats of exploiting Diaz Santillan for political purposes, regardless of the effect on the former housekeeper's life.

"What's going to happen to Nicky after Nov. 2, whether I win or lose this election? No ones cares about Nicky Diaz. She's going to be deported. Her three children were born here, her husband is here. They have sacrificed her for Jerry Brown's political ambitions and Gloria Allred's, you know, PR stunt," Whitman said.

More at the link. And the exchange on Hannity's below. But see especially the second clip with Greta interviewing Gloria Allred. Greta's like a courtroom bulldog on this, and no doubt the heat is on the Democrats and their sick smear-based politics. And finally, check Fire Andrea Mitchell as well, with audios from Mark Levin's show: "Mark Levin Obliterates Gloria Allred." I'd add that it's fascinating how rapid conservatives have rallied around Meg Whitman. I recall Allahpundit's post the other night questioning Whitman's intelligence! The debate comes down to how we interpret that no-match letter. Once Whitman and her husband got it there's no doubt they had a problem. But Santillan wasn't fired until 2009. So, blame the maid, right? A governor's race is on the line, so I can see why the right is rallying. And as Michelle says, Gloria Allred's a "crapweasel." Still, Whitman's RINO and she'll be a Schwarzenegger retread in office. Bummer for California.

RELATED: "Whitman within law, immigration lawyers say" (via Memeorandum).