Likely GOP gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman is promising to create 2 million private-sector jobs in California within the first five years if she is elected.

She said Tuesday that she would accomplish that by reforming regulations, cutting taxes and realigning government spending with what she believes should be the state's priorities. She offered few details.

The former eBay (nasdaq: EBAY - news - people ) chief executive announced last week that she was forming an exploratory committee to seek the Republican nomination for governor in 2010.

Whitman sounded more like an official candidate on Tuesday as she spoke to about 100 people at the Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose. It's the first of three so-called "vision speeches" she is planning this week in what amounts to a political coming-out party.

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