The level of political engagement around this part of the state has never been higher in my memory. And yet -- Sheila Harsdorf has refused to come out for the only truly public debate that people have tried to schedule. She has refused to attend the proposed AAUW debate that was to be held today. The debate sponsored by Hudson Patch earlier in the week was by invitation only (though I have to say that I thought that the debate was better-handled than I expected. There will also be a debate tomorrow morning at UW-River Falls, from which I will be reporting. This is a Chamber of Commerce breakfast, which needed to be moved to a bigger venue due to interest (and because it is the only debate that the public can even nominally attend, at $15 per head).
If Harsdorf has such a great story to tell about her party and how they are helping us all, why is she so shy? For the past several months she has been sneaking in and out of public events through steam tunnels, etc. Shelly Moore has been making herself available at almost every opportunity. I think the contrast is telling.