I completely understand John Lassiter’s unwillingness to subject himself to arbitrary “debate” ground rules cooked up by debate sponsors who are — frankly — a little too full of themselves. Just hosting a forum or debate does not convey any special powers of political insight. In fact, it is usually exactly the opposite as slippery, squishy Big Picture obsessions crowd out the nitty-gritty of policy differences.

But.

Charlotte needs all the debates it can get — even imperfect ones hosted by the officious League of Women Voters. Further Lassiter risks never reaching voters who would have tuned into the TV debate. Maybe he has enough campaign cash stashed away for these last few weeks to render that a wash, maybe not. I guess the correctness of his call boils down to if Anthony Foxx is elated by the this turn of events — or bummed out that the debate will not happen.