Claws Come Out

California Gov. Debate Gets Ugly

Brown, Whitman trade personal attacks.

The California gubernatorial debate got ugly Tuesday night, as Jerry Brown and Meg Whitman traded personal barbs in a bid to gain an edge in the very close race. Even the typically tame audience got rowdy. Brown, who has a small lead in the polls, got aggressive early on, claiming a Whitman proposal for a business tax cut was a windfall for billionaires like her: "Ms. Whitman, I'd like to ask you, how much money would you save if these tax breaks were in effect this year or last year?" Whitman fired back that she spent her career creating jobs, while Brown spent 40 years in politics, engaged in a “war on jobs.” Whitman said the idea of Brown being tough on crime was “a fairy tale;” Brown said he alone had the “intestinal fortitude” to fix the struggling state. Brown apologized because one of his aides called Whitman a “whore."