As the general election campaign gets under way, with Meg Whitman hitting Jerry Brown with a barrage of attack ads, it’s also time to see how many debates the two candidates will agree to have between now and November 2. Today Jerry Brown announced he accepted 10 debate invitations, one of which is the “blogosphere debate” co-sponsored by Calitics, alongside Calbuzz, the Commonwealth Club, and the right-wing Flash Report, to be held at San Jose State University on September 13 – that is, if Whitman agrees.

Here’s what Brown had to say about these debates:

Gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown today announced that he has accepted invitations to 10 debates or town halls around California, all sponsored by independent organizations interested in an open and honest campaign for Governor.

“We are only a few days into the general election campaign, and already our airwaves have been overrun with millions in misleading and deceptive attack ads,” Brown said. “The people of California deserve better. They deserve to see their choices for Governor stand side-by-side and honestly discuss the challenges facing our state.”…

The two campaigns have received many formal requests for debates at locations around the state. Brown has agreed to ten, several others remain under active consideration. Brown accepted invitations for joint appearances from the following outlets, assuming reasonable terms that provide for open and fair discussion can be negotiated with the Republican nominee.

So far, the only debate Whitman has accepted is Dominican University/NBC, for some time in October. It’s unclear whether Whitman will agree to any other debates.

But she ought to, and she should certainly consider the Calitics debate. As readers of this site know, we’ve been tough on both Whitman and Jerry Brown. There’s no reason for Whitman to shy away from this debate, and you can be assured that the questions we’d ask of her and of Brown would be interesting, original, and useful to the people of California.

Wouldn’t that be refreshing? Let’s hope Whitman does the right thing and accepts the debate invitation from Calitics (and others) for September 13.