MEG WHITMAN

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MINNEAPOLIS - Phil Bevis, a McCain delegate from Seattle, started a business in 1984 simply to publish a book about Westerns. Now, more than two decades later, he has two retail stores and two warehouses in addition to the small publishing house, three of which are located in Washington state.

So Bevis appreciated the notion that former eBay CEO Meg Whitman focused her speech on John McCain's commitment to small businesses, notably lowering their taxes.

"Most people think that jobs come from big companies but in fact large corporations are net destroyers of jobs," Bevins said. "They consolidate employment, they don't create it. Job creation in our economy comes almost in its entirety from small and medium sized businesses."

MINNEAPOLIS -Former eBay CEO Meg Whitman spoke to the Washington state delegation this morning touting Sen. John Meg Whitman with Ralph Munro and Doug Roulstone: Politicker photoMcCain's economic plan and its three main features: lower taxes, free trade and energy independence.

Whitman, who has local ties that stem from working with Stuart Anderson's Black Angus restaurant in Seattle early in her career, was considered a possible vice presidential nominee for McCain earlier this summer.

She said that she has gotten to know McCain well over the last six months while working as a national campaign co-chair after Mitt Romney, her first choice for president, dropped out of the race.

MINNEAPOLIS -Surrogates for Sen. John McCain's campaign headlined this morning's delegate breakfast for the Washington State Republicans. They covered the campaign's main bases along the way, the economy, national security, and character with speeches from former e-bay CEO Meg Whitman, Medal of Honor Recipient Corporal Hiroshi Miyamura, former POW Lieutenant Commander Michael P. Cornin, McCain's daughter Sidney McCain and deputy campaign manager Christian Ferry.

Later today the delegation is battling the stormy Twin Cities weather on a riverboat trip up the Mississippi before heading to the convention hall for addresses from former Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.), Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and President George W. Bush.