INDIAN WELLS – Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman sought to fight back criticism Tuesday of her apparently scant voting record as the news threatened to dominate much of the California Republican Party's convention being held at a resort here.

The Bee reported Thursday that it could not find records that the billionaire candidate had registered to vote before 2002.

The revelation has topped statewide political blogs and on Saturday elicited a strongly worded column from the Washington Post saying Whitman's "slender record is striking for its apparent indifference to the political process."

Asked about the issue, the former chief executive officer of the online auction firm eBay replied at a Saturday news conference: "I did not vote as often as I should. I didn't register as often as I should, and I'm sorry about that and there's no excuse for it."

Reporters continued to press a visibly flustered Whitman for a few more minutes on the issue, with several reporters at one point shouting, "Why?" at the candidate.

Whitman ended the questioning, stating, "I've said what I'm going to say about it, so thanks for that."

The billionaire candidate did acknowledge that she "registered in 2002" after her return to California in 1998. She told delegates in a speech at a convention earlier this year something different – that she had "been a registered 'decline-to-state' voter since 1998."

Whitman press secretary Sarah Pompei later said about Whitman's earlier statements, "She misspoke, and it was wrong."

During the same news conference, Whitman batted back rival candidate Steve Poizner's demand that she drop out of the race because of her voting record. "I could imagine Steve Poizner would like me to get out of the race, and it's not happening," Whitman said as her supporters in the room applauded and cheered.

She wasn't the only gubernatorial candidate undergoing close scrutiny at the convention, which ends today.

Poizner fielded tough questions from reporters about his jobs plan, which seeks to keep more businesses in the state by cutting state personal and corporate income taxes and sales taxes by 10 percent and by slashing the capital-gains tax in half.

Under repeated questioning, the insurance commissioner was unable to specify how much money such tax cuts would generate and finally said, "We'll be rolling out lots more details as the campaign goes on."

Tom Campbell, a former congressman, found himself on the hot seat at a candidates forum held Saturday afternoon by the California Congress of Republicans, a moderate Republican group.

Several audience members challenged the socially moderate candidate repeatedly on his opposition to creating a part-time Legislature, with several people saying the idea would weed out the influence of public employee unions.

Campbell repeatedly disagreed and argued that the amount of time legislators spend in Sacramento is not the problem. After several minutes of debate, Campbell tried to put a lid on the issue, finally telling one of his questioners, "Let's just agree to disagree. You haven't convinced me yet, and I don't think I've convinced you."

Public vetting of candidates is one of the main purposes of such conventions, several delegates said. Hopefuls for everything from state senator to governor trekked from meeting room to meeting room seeking the endorsement of groups such as the California Congress and the California College Republicans.

"The more candidates can interact with real people throughout the state, the better it is for the candidates," said California Republican Party Treasurer Keith Carlson. "The volunteers are going to ask some hard questions, and you better know what you believe."

The talks also gave the candidates a chance to try out their stump speeches on grass-roots Republican devotees who often weren't afraid to ask for details.

For Whitman, that meant repeating the mantra of her campaign – creating jobs, cutting spending and improving schools.

"Discipline around staying focused here is going to be incredibly important," Whitman told the California Congress of Republicans. "If you go to Sacramento and try to boil the ocean, you will be stymied at every turn."

Poizner touted his plan to create jobs, which he said meant cutting taxes, enacting tort reform, reforming labor laws and streamlining the permitting process.

"This is what we have to do, or we're just going to get steamrolled in the 21st century global economy," he told the same congress.

Campbell addressed the convention Friday night, trumpeting his budget plan, which he said identified $17.4 billion in specific cuts.

"It's perfectly fair to criticize that plan," he told delegates. "But at least I have a plan and have the courage to defend it in specific line-item terms."

Call Jack Chang, Bee Capitol Bureau, (916) 326-5543.