Editorial:

Costa Mesa was the focus of attention in California for an evening last week, as 2010 GOP gubernatorial hopefuls Meg Whitman and Steve Poizner went head-to-head here in their first debate. We won’t weigh in on who came out ahead in Monday night’s reputedly lackluster event, but we will pronounce that Costa Mesa emerged the clear winner.

The fact that the two campaigns picked the city to stage the opening debate pointed to its significance on the map of state and national politics. Costa Mesa isn’t a political center of gravity like, say Washington, D.C., or Sacramento, but this 50-year-old town has become a junction on the road to the White House, Capitol Hill and the state Capitol.

Time and again over the decades the campaign trail has passed through Costa Mesa for politicians ranging from gubernatorial to presidential candidates, as well as sitting presidents stumping away from the safety of the Oval Office on some or another crucial issue or piece of legislation. For example, during the 2008 presidential race, Sarah Palin swung through town on a campaign fundraiser. The then-Alaska governor’s appearance raised $2 million for the GOP ticket. Whitman has established her Orange County campaign office in Costa Mesa.

The county, of course, is a linchpin for candidates hoping to represent the Grand Old Party on any ticket, because it’s nationally known as a bastion of rock-ribbed Republicanism. But coming to Costa Mesa to show one’s face in public won’t necessarily seal it for conservatives.

Costa Mesa is more of a bellwether pointing to a cross-section of political trends in Orange County than the home of one single party. For one, Costa Mesa is more ethnically and economically diverse than its wealthier neighbor, Newport Beach.

And the gap between Republicans and Democrats is considerably narrower in Costa Mesa than it is in Newport Beach, where in October 2008 registered Republicans outnumbered registered Democrats by 35,870 to 13,850, according to the Orange Country Registrar of Voters. Costa Mesa, on the other hand, had a narrower margin, 23,502 Republicans to 17,553 Democrats.

Small wonder then that Barack Obama clinched Costa Mesa in the November 2008 presidential election, although the county tilted in Sen. John McCain’s favor. Two months into his presidency, Obama came to Costa Mesa to pitch his national economic stimulus package about the time that his administration was pushing a related bill through Congress. When he visited last March, the 44th president — as Bill Clinton, Bob Dole and many other politicians — chose the Orange County Fairgrounds as his local stage.

We’re certain more politicians will travel down this well-beaten path, and, as always, we are more than happy that our community is at the center of political discourse.