Whitman, Poizner hold first debate

After months of dodging calls for debates, GOP front-runner Meg Whitman went toe-to-toe with Steve Poizner on Monday night in an Orange County showdown of former Silicon Valley executives that offered surprisingly little confrontation but appeared to answer one big question in the race for governor: Is Whitman ready for prime time? Ken McLaughlin in the Mercury News.

The former eBay CEO seemed to be on Monday -- if only for a limited Web audience. In her first debate, Whitman appeared confident and more than comfortable in the hourlong duel with Poizner from a theater in Costa Mesa.

Spelling out her vision for creating jobs, cutting spending and restoring the state's once-prized education system, Whitman went largely unchallenged and launched the most notable attack of the evening, depicting Poizner as a flip-flopper on immigration.