The first poll taken in the aftermath of the revelation that California Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman employed an illegal immigrant as a housekeeper suggests that she may be taking on water.  Last week, Whitman's former housekeeper appeared at a press conference with attorney Gloria Allred, claiming that she had been inappropriately discharged, and that Whitman had employed her fully knowing that she was an illegal immigrant.  Whitman claims that she had no knowledge of the housekeeper's status and fired her immediately after learning that she'd been living and working in the country illegally.  Rasmussen Reports now shows Whitman trailing former Governor Jerry Brown 49 percent to 44 percent. 

The previous Rasmussen poll had shown Brown up by one point, 47 percent to 46 percent.  It is important to note that this movement is well within the poll's error margin, so we should wait to see if other pollsters show similar movement before drawing any hard and fast conclusions. It's also important to note that the race seemed to be moving toward Brown before this story broke, so it's also difficult to say whether this is directly attributable to that story, or if it is merely a continuation of earlier trends.  Nevertheless, having spent over $100 million on the race, it isn't clear what else Whitman can do to ge over the 50 percent mark.

Brown leads by 3.5 points in the RCP Average.