Meg Whitman's campaign manager Jillian Hasner has responded today to a letter from the Steve Poizner campaign accusing Whitman of falsely saying Poizner hadn't responded to her invitation to do three debates with him in the fall.
The letter accuses Poizner of not responding promptly enough to her invitation to debate but doesn't dispute the Poizner campaign's assertion that it responded on Aug. 3 to Whitman's debate challenge.
Here's Hasner's letter:
Dear Mr. Bognet:
As you know, Meg has announced her intention to debate after the filing deadline in March, when the field of candidates is official. While you may not like this decision, it was made after we failed to receive a timely response to our letter of April 30th offering to discuss fall debates. If you were so intent on debates in the fall, perhaps you should have made a good faith effort to reach out to us last spring.
It is our understanding that your campaign has yet to accept the New Majority Orange County Debate on March 15. Meg and Tom Campbell have already agreed to debate that day. We hope your campaign will eventually decide to participate.
Provided your candidate is still in this race, we anticipate a spirited discussion of the issues on March 15th.
Regards,
Jillian Hasner
Campaign Manager
Meg Whitman 2010
Poizner press secretary Bettina Inclan said Poizner will decide whether to appear in the March 15 debate "when we actually enter the year in which it will be held."
Click here to read the original blog post.
Torey Van Oot and the Bee Capitol Bureau report on the people and politics of California government. Get 
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