Reporter Randal Archibold outlines California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's political balancing act in his bid for reelection this November in Saturday's "In [1]California Balancing Act, Immigration May Tip Vote [1]."
Typically, the paper frames measures that crack down on illegal immigration as mean-spirited: "Gov. Janet Napolitano of Arizona, a Democrat, has sought to appear tough, declaring a state of emergency last year in the four border counties that bear the brunt of the flow of illegal immigrants from Mexico. But this spring, with a commanding lead in the polls, Ms. Napolitano rejected bills from the Republican-dominated Legislature intended to make life harder for illegal residents and the businesses that employ them, questioning the legality and effectiveness of the proposals."
Wouldn't the phrase "intended to crack down on illegal residents and the businesses that employ them" have been sufficient to get the news across?
The story's political labeling is also out of whack, with conservatives pitted against Latinos, not liberal Latinos: "So one week Mr. Schwarzenegger defends his support for the Minutemen civilian patrols on the border that many conservatives strongly endorse, and the next he distances himself from an anti-illegal-immigrant ballot initiative passed in 1994 that galvanized Latino political involvement on the side of Democrats."