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Governor's Race Heats Up As Whitman Attacks Brown

Stephanie McNeal |
July 9, 2010 | 10:39 a.m. PDT

Staff Reporter

Meg Whitman (Creative Commons)
Meg Whitman (Creative Commons)
The governor’s race in California has barely begun, and it has already been one of the most interesting races in recent history.

Meg Whitman and Steve Poizner’s fierce battle for the Republican nomination dominated headlines. When Whitman finally won the nomination it felt like a big battle had been won for her.

But of course Whitman, who has already spent billions of her own money on her ad campaign, has not stopped there.

Her latest ad campaign gives an overview of Brown’s more than 40 years in politics and declares, “Failure has followed him everywhere”.

She then outlines Brown’s so-called failures and blames him for contributing to California’s budget deficit, among other things.

The ad got people talking, but not favorably toward Whitman.

Many questioned the authenticity of her claims about Brown, saying they were taken out of context or exaggerated.

One news station in San Diego did a full story on the ad, bringing on a bipartisan political analyst to point out its faults. Of course, the Brown campaign wasted no time displaying the story prominently on its YouTube channel and on Brown’s website.

But what does Brown have to say for himself on the airwaves? Still, nothing.

After handily winning the Democratic primary with sparse campaigning, he has yet to release a full-on ad campaign, which some believe is hurting him more and more every day that goes by.

These negatives (on both sides) have led voters to grow disenchanted with the candidates, leaving the race even at this point.

However, in the latest polls, Whitman’s unfavorable rate increased significantly, while Brown’s remained about the same. Whitman has received support from many Hispanic voters, though, which could be a big blow to Brown’s Democratic ticket.

With so much happening in this race only a month in, it’s hard to believe there will be campaigning through November.

Until then, we Californians have a lot of political campaigning to look forward to.

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