Bell Bails

Dickie Bell, who agreed to four live debates, has reneged on his promise. They say a man is only as good as his word.

You may recall that shortly after Bell was nominated, Erik Curren proposed a series of live debates in each of the localities in the 20th District. After some hemming and hawing, Bell agreed to the concept and the campaigns began negotiating on dates, formats, etc. But, apparently the Bell campaign never really intended to fulfill his promise as he employed a strategy of delay and refusing to respond to run out the clock. Tis the season for weaving and bobbing for apples.

Now comes the word that Dickie Bell will only agree to one debate to be held in a sparsely populated Highland County. Bell argues that this week's debate on TV3 will have to suffice for the rest of us. Of course, there is no live audience and no interaction directly with voters. Maybe Dickie is afraid of catching something if he meets the people?

The more we see of Dickie Bell, the less there is to like. He refuses to talk issues. The only thing he works hard on is debate dodging. He loathes voters. Maybe he skipped the part in civic class about representative democracy?