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Post-debate news conference illustrates the real differences between Brown and Whitman

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Perhaps the clearest illustration of the differences between Meg Whitman and Jerry Brown came after the first gubernatorial debate was over.

More than 100 members of the media were set up in the ‘spin room,’ where candidates traditionally come to speak to the press after a debate.

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Whitman bowed to convention, coming in briefly -- less than three minutes, actually -- during which she answered just three questions. She made a quick exit, saying she was going out to eat with her husband.

Then the media waited for Brown. And waited. Finally, word came that Brown was not going to come to the spin room, but was going to go outside to talk to ‘real people,’ whoever those are.

Soon, a crowd gathered in the lobby, as TV cameras and reporters created an amorphous blog, trailing Brown as he ambled through the lobby.

Brown stepped outside into the warm Davis evening where he was greeted by protesters shouting: ‘What’s your plan?!’

Brown quickly did an about-face, and led the pack back through the lobby of the Mondavi Center, avoiding questions as the pack followed. At the orchestra entrance, Brown left the pack in his wake, and made his exit. Not exactly by the book.

-- Anthony York in Davis

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