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Poizner, Brown both attack Whitman’s campaign spending

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This just in: Meg Whitman has a lot of money and she’s not afraid to spend it. That was made clear in the Whitman campaign’s financial disclosure forms released Monday. But now, both Republican Steve Poizner and Democrat Jerry Brown are trying to use Whitman’s money against her. This morning, Poizner spokeswoman Bettina Inclan released a statement decrying the former EBay CEO’s campaign spending.

‘Why is Meg trying to buy the governor’s office?’ she wrote. ‘Meg Whitman has spent nearly $50 million to buy the election (before voters have even started really paying attention.) This money isn’t going towards a positive message to solve California’s problems. No, it’s mostly going towards lying negative ads against Steve Poizner.’

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The tone was similar to a release sent out by Jerry Brown’s campaign just minutes later. Without mentioning Whitman by name, Brown sent a fund-raising pitch to supporters noting Monday’s campaign spending totals. ‘The current spending binge to purchase California’s airwaves is off the chart. Never has a candidate for governor so blatantly attempted to preempt the democratic process. Virtually every hour, voters are being hit with propaganda, aimed at undermining honest discussion.’

Whitman spokesman Tucker Bounds was unapologetic about their campaign’s spending. “Our campaign’s budget is designed for victory: We’ve invested more than $23 million in direct voter contact and we’re seeing positive results. We have incredible momentum moving toward election day and it’s reflected in the fact that we’ve outraised Steve Poizner by a nearly 10-to-1 margin from outside contributors.”

The Whitman campaign also released a 2006 video when Poizner defended the money he was spending in his race for insurance commissioner against Democrat Cruz Bustamante. You can watch that video below.

-- Anthony York

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