With 13 days until the midterm elections, California gubernatorial candidates Jerry Brown and Meg Whitman are intensifying their attack advertisements, portraying each other as puppets in a recent string of television spots.

Meg Whitman and Jerry Brown (Creative Commons).

The most recent attacks aim to pinpoint similarities between the gubernatorial candidates and current California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

An ad released by Brown on Tuesday draws parallels between Whitman and Schwarzenegger on both policy and message. The ad shows Whitman echoing, sometimes verbatim, Schwarzenegger's campaign slogans from past speeches, including phrases like "build a new California" and "all about leadership."

According to The Sacramento Bee, Whitman defended herself during a campaign stop in Oakland, California with critiques of Schwarzenegger. She acknowledged that her words were indeed similar to Schwarzenegger's, but went on to say that the governor had the right ideas and simply did not execute them properly.

After attacking Brown's environmental and tax policies last week by comparing them to those of Schwarzenegger, Whitman retaliated with an ad depicting Brown as a puppet being controlled by unions. The ad claims that Brown is beholden to California's unions because  they have contributed "millions of dollars" to the Brown campaign.

To reach staff reporter Shakira Keller, click here.