Poizner Slams Meg Whitman for Agreeing with President of Mexico
California insurance commissioner Steve Poizner continues to pound Meg Whitman, his opponent in the GOP primary for California's gubernatorial race, for being too soft on immigration. In a new ad, Poizner makes the argument that Whitman, the former CEO of eBay, is the wrong choice for the governor's office because she takes the same position as the president of Mexico on Arizona's controversial new immigration law.
"Do you want a governor who has the same position on illegal immigration as the President of Mexico?" a narrator asks in one of Poizner's latest campaign ads. "Meg Whitman does."
The ad shows Whitman saying, "But as I have said, if that law were to come before me, I would oppose it."
She is speaking in reference to the recently-passed Arizona law that makes it a crime to be in the state illegally. It also requires police officers to question a person about his or her immigration status during a "lawful stop" if there is "reasonable suspicion" that person may be in the country illegally. Opponents of the law say it is likely to result in racial profiling.
Poizner's ad shows Mexican President Felipe Calderon saying to a joint session of the U.S. Congress last week, "I strongly disagree with your recently adopted law in Arizona."
Poizner is aiming to make inroads against Whitman by contrasting their positions on immigration. The latest poll shows Whitman with a 9-point lead over Poizner, though Whitman's lead has shrunk dramatically.
"I support what's going on in Arizona," Poizner says in the ad. "Amnesty is a huge magnet and it's a mistake. As governor, I'm going to take steps to address the problems of illegal immigration once and for all."
While Poizner suggests California's governor should not have the same position on the Arizona law as the president of Mexico, numerous politicians would disagree. President Obama last week said he agreed with Calderon that the law could be applied inappropriately. When Calderon told Congress he disagrees with Arizona's law, numerous congressmen gave him a standing ovation in support. Meanwhile, a number of city officials throughout California are working to cut their economic ties with Arizona in protest of the law.
Update: Whitman earlier this month released her own ad taking a hard stance against "amnesty," but a more recent Whitman ad features former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and focuses on her credentials as a fiscal conservative.