Voters unhappy with Whitman's handling of housekeeper controversy, poll finds. What do you think?

The latest Los Angeles Times-USC poll found that a majority of those questioned believed Meg Whitman did not handle the controversy over her housekeeper's immigration status well.

The poll showed Democrat Jerry Brown with a  52% to 39% lead over Republican Whitman. Although it's not clear how much the housekeeper controversy has hurt Whitman, the poll offers some clues. According to Times Political Editor Cathleen Decker:

Overall, by 52% to 41%, voters said that Whitman had not handled the housekeeper controversy well. The same key voter groups — women, independents and Latinos — offered the harshest verdicts. When asked how Brown had handled the matter, voters were more divided, with 37% saying he did well and 43% saying he did not. Among independent voters, a plurality approved of Brown's actions.

The damage to Whitman's candidacy over the last month could be seen in a host of poll findings. The percentage of voters with an unfavorable view of her rose slightly from 47% to 52%, making her the only major candidate with a majority negative impression. Her favorable rating stayed at 37%.

In September, Nicandra Diaz Santillan held a press conference with attorney Gloria Allred to announce that she had been employed by Whitman for nine years, a period during which she said Whitman became aware of her illegal status. Whitman countered that she had not known of Diaz Santillan's status until shortly before firing her in 2009.

What do you think? Share your view below. See full coverage of the Times/USC poll here and here.

Comments

[MartyK]

I think it's disgraceful that the housekeeper controversy is even a thought in the campaign. If you care about this kind of thing, then you care about the wrong things. Do you know what the unemployment rate is in this state? Have you spent some time on the state's overcrowded highways? We have a debt bigger than most countries. Do you have any idea what that does to the state's credit rating and how that hurts the economy??

Even the debate about illegal aliens is pointless. You've got candidates talking about how the we need to build a fence or increase the resources of the border patrol, when the state governor has NOTHING to do with that.

The press should be ashamed of themselves for making the housekeeper scandal or the W-word an issue when there are so many more important things to be talking about. The people that raised these issues should be exposed and castigated for trying to manipulate the electorate. As a leader in the press, the LA Times should be helping the people to keep their eye on the ball and not on this stupid crap that has nothing to do with the important issues facing California.

[LOL]

She hired this maid from an employment agency! Therefore she figured they were doing their job correctly and screening these workers, like any normal human being would think. I say they deport this immigrant! Why can't these immigrants enter the correct way and get documented like many other races have done in the past and are still doing now. This maid should be thankful she even had a job during those years. This story makes me so angry. I guess as long as their our Democrats on earth, we will continue to allow immigrants and give them money, free medical and anything else they want. What are we waiting for? Until the illegals turn America into Mexico. Before you know it Spanish will be our official language and we will have to press 1 for English!

[Mike]

It's a non issue. I really don't care if she kept 5 illegals in her basement. The securities scandal and all the other things we don't know about are what should be scaring you.

[Krunch1]

Whitman did what anyone else would have done!

Jerry brown is the real culprit in this whole episode!

How does Brown get away with calling a woman a "whore"?

That is completely out of line!

[Emile Zola]

When some one is running for a position of trust, coming clean about past transgressions is the best defense, but republicans have gotten away with lying for so long that now they feel like slogans can put them over the top and I'm glad that it is not going to work in California. But then again, when a republican wins a public office is a contradiction to the nth degree. California gaves Berkeley and they always stood for the little man, not corporations. I'm gald that Whitman is not going to be able to buy the governorship.

[Sharon Lim]

Meg Whitman who publicly states her housekeeper was like a member of her family did not do much unfortunately, except fire her after nine years. Yes, history of events may lead people to possibly believe Meg Whitman's decision to run for California's governor may have prompted housekeeper's dismissal.

Whatever the real factors were, dismissal and any questionable possible personal advice from Whitman family were not handled well. Some attempt to assist her housekeeper re: citizenship status would have been nice. Housekeeper was considered a member of family. This approach would have received high praise.

Could Meg Whitman's family continue employing this housekeeper? No - per laws. But seems per all news reports Meg Whitman never even advised of offered help to this housekeeper.

This is where I have problems. Whitman family is quite wealthy, and could have tried to help. Whitman family may have been unsuccessful, but help would have been offered. It wasn't.

[Smithsonian]

Everybody admires the immigrants. We all like pluck and an eagerness to work. But I respectfully suggest that you take the poll again a few years from now.

When people who have lived here for decades find their child has been denied admission to the UC in favor of illegals, will everyone still feel the same glow?

When the healthcare system moves to even more rationing or much higher taxes because more people move here for benefits and send money back to another country, will everyone still feel the same?

As we pay more for Union PENSIONS in a bankrupt state, will those focusing on Whitman's maid as a key issue feel they made the right choice in this consequential election?

Voters asked the media and the candidates to focus on the issues (lost jobs, business flight to nearby states, union pensions, Brown's "spend like there's no tomorrow" record in Oakland). The Times give us more of the "maid."

Will people look back and be proud of what the Times has provided to the voters?

My predicted answer to all of the above is obviously "no."

The people voting for Brown based on the "maid issue" are like the roman street mob: They pay almost none of the taxes they want others to pay and rather than look to Oakland and Brown's past record as governor, they focus on a maid. Abetted by the Times.

[Nova yos Galen]

Whitman either knew about NS's status and looked the other way for several years (likely) or she didn't know. If she knew, she's a sanctimonious hypocrite. If she didn't know, she's incredibly stupid and not in touch with the issues. Is this who you want running the state?

[Dave Felt]

Gosh what a surprise! Enjoy the low pay Meg gave her housekeeper, "a member of the family", then give her the boot when she turns out to be illegal. Meg, with all her millions, easily could have afforded a probably higher priced and legal housekeeper. Meg's true character is showing here.

[snowyte]

Living in Toronto, I was always in awe of the state of California and wished I lived there thinking it was so far advanced over Canada. Then I moved here and OMG, what a culture shock. It is such a backward society I can't believe it. NO gay marriages such as in Canada, NO legal marijuana such as in Canada....Cry babies over immigration...what's up with that. TAKE DOWN YOUR BORDERS CALIFORNIA....immigrants will start building the economy once you open up.

[George]

So many people and employers, as they did in Arizona during the boom, used illegal workers for years and made billion$; then when the economic bust came, millions of Americans turned on the workers and spew hatred towards them. What a bunch of hypocrites we have in our society, especially Republican political donors who support tough laws now.

[yehudi]

This may be true to her knowledge not knowing her employee as undocumented, but difficult to believe.

[al walden]

"Compassionate conservatism" was always an oxymoron and just propaganda, but now we see their true colors. Whitman is a typically hard-hearted conservative who threw her nanny away like garbage.

[Jack]

So when are they going to deport her?

[neighbor]

The two basic themes that come across about Meg and (especially) "maid-gate" are: selfishness and greed on Meg's part. She was too cheap to pay for the hours she was served or to pay a legal worker fairly. Then she threw away her housekeeper of nine years, carelessly and selfishly, with no regard for her at all.

[neighbor]

Has anyone else noticed the irony? Meg saved how much money on her cut-rate, suspicion-raising maid? A few thousands or tens of thousands of dollars??? But look what it's ended up costing her---$140 million + and nothing to show for it!

Some "business woman!"

[neighbor]

Perhaps if Meg had been paying more attention to how politics works (during all those decades during which she never voted), she would have been savvy enough not to have let "Maid-gate" happen!

[Young Independent]

Nicky Diaz is an American hero and treasure. She is a truly beautiful person and I cannot believe the utter bile being spewed by the uneducated trailer dwellers on this board. Also, Gloria Allred is one of the US' most important public intellectual.

I am voting for Brown and Boxer. Whitman and Fiorina are human filth.

[lisa]

If Meg sent Nicky to a immigration lawyer and everything was done correctly as required by law Nicky would need to leave the country and go back to Mexico for a year ... You people need to read up on the current immigration laws.

[Hairy Carrion]

What I care about is why NuttMeg Whitless refuses to answer specific questions about her voting record or lack thereof. She dances around it, never stating why. Only saying "It was wrong." Um, yeah... we get that but answer the damn question. Dancing around and skirting issues is not leadership but the behavior of a child.

The other thing I care about is why this absolute nonsense about unions and labor. Unions aren't the problem. It's the system of money and influence that is the problem. The reason why you all work a 5 day work week, with 8 hour days is thanks to unions. The reason why there isn't child labor is thanks to unions. The reason why you get a vacation, overtime and often, insurance as part of your benefits package is in thanks to the unions.

Union workers are not lazy or ignorant. They work hard, trained for years and have more education than most of the hobnozzle conservatives who grasp at ideology instead of common sense.

[Mike B]

What do I think? I think Gloria Alred needs to go away ... far, far away ... I am sick of seeing her mug. The illegal alien got fired. Boo hoo.

[meme]

Let's see: Meg denied she knew, accused the maid of stealing, and after all that failed, accused her opponent of arranging a celebrity lawyer to take the woman on as a client. (Since when does Allred need an excuse to chase a little press coverage?) She would have been better off being upfront about it before the maid spoke up. And, franky if Meg couldn't bring herself to "be true" to her conservative values by turning the maid in to ICE, she should have bought a plane ticket for Nicky to leave the country (self deportation is a legal option) and written a check with enough to tide Nicky over for a year or two. Its not the cover up; its the stupidity.

[AVjeeper]

Didn't the girl break the law by lying to the job placement agency about her legal status and used a bogus Social Security number? How is Whitman the one to blame?

[Tallyho]

The only one to blame here is the illegal invading Diaz who used stolen and or fraudulent identification to usurp a job through an employment agency, in which she never paid a dime of taxes on. Whitman fired this illegal invader as soon as she became aware of her invading status. And to those who blame Whitman, I ask you this. The State of California gave this criminal invader a driver’s license based upon the same documentation used to steal this job through an agency. Therefore, why are you holding Whitman to a higher standard than you would the State of California who was also hoodwinked into giving Diaz the invader a California driver’s license!

I’m not a fan of Whitman by any stretch, but she has to be a better choice then Jerry Brown for goodness sakes!

[REAL PA VOTER]

If Ms. Whitman honestly thought that her maid was legal and intended to follow all Federal, State and local laws regarding employment of housekeepers as she has suggested that she did, by the second year after she filed the employment forms to Social Security, and the State, the fake Social Security number on the filed employee's W-2 would have kicked out as an unknown number requiring her to correct or re-file.

By then she would have known of the discrepancy. This would go on every year until it was corrected.

So, even if Meg Whitman wants to stand and lie that she was fooled by her employee, there was no way that she could have escaped the IRS, State, or local taxing authorities, who would not have an employee account to credit the tax payment to.

This, then is positive proof that she not only knew about her illegal maid, but also conspired to hide the income paid form Federal tax, FICA tax, Medicare tax, Local tax, Unemployment tax, Worker's Compensation and any other taxes required to be withheld and paid to the appropriate taxing authorities by statute.