As Republican gubernatorial nominee Meg Whitman tours parts of California that have traditionally been receptive to GOP candidates, she's also appealing directly to conservative TV audiences, hoping to fire up her party's base.

On Wednesday, she appeared on Fox News and took a harder line on Nicky Diaz Santillan, the illegal immigrant who Whitman employed as a housekeeper for nine years. Since the controversy erupted in September, Whitman has said both she and a hiring agency relied on documents that turned out to be false and that she fired Diaz Santillan when the woman disclosed her immigration status last year.

