Brown to Whitman: Take the town hall challenge

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Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown challenged his newly anointed Republican opponent, Meg Whitman, to a series of 10 town hall debates in coming weeks.

Brown, who faces an uphill battle raising funds against Whitman, the largely self-financed billionaire who spent a record $80 million to win the Republican primary, said in a statement Wednesday morning that the (relatively inexpensive) town hall forum will give the candidates the chance to ‘act as adults and actually treat each other with respect.’

It would also relieve him from the need to match Whitman’s anticipated heaving spending on statewide television ads, a technique she used to beat back a late surge in the polls by her Republican rival Steve Poizner.

‘If I never see another political ad in my life, I’ll be happy,’ Brown said. ‘And I’ll bet that most people feel the same way.’

-- Jack Dolan in Sacramento