— Editor’s note: Republican Flathead County commissioner candidate Phil Mitchell has declined an invitation from the Daily Inter Lake to participate in a public debate with his opponent, Democrat Stacey Schnebel.

If I was Phil Mitchell (Republican) I would also avoid debating Stacey Schnebel (an independent running as a Democrat) for Flathead County Commissioner.

Why take a chance on debating someone much smarter than you…who has intensively studied Flathead County government for several months…and who has interviewed every county government office holder in her attempt to learn how they govern…and who has learned what the important issues are that matter to the citizenry by speaking directly to them?

Why not just sit back and let the 70-30 Republican party advantage in Flathead County play itself out without doing any work to earn the election win?

After all Frank Miele, the Daily Inter Lake editor, and debate sponsor and moderator, is known for his sense of fair play to all candidates when running debates, so Mitchell will get no help from easy questions there.

Phil’s supporters/handlers, who run his campaign and will guide him as merely their figurehead once he is in office, are not allowed to answer questions for him during a live debate.

So what is the poor guy to do? Why not just duck the debate and let partisan ideology run its course? Vote for the “R” and nevermind the issues at hand that need intelligent attention by those who would govern us.

Let there be business as usual in Flathead County.

— Bill Baum lives in Badrock Canyon