Tomorrow, the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities (CGMC) will hold a gubernatorial debate. Tom Emmer will not be there, though. He gave a couple of exceedingly lame excuses for ditching the debate, but I suspect the true reason is even worse.

Emmer says he can’t attend because of scheduling issues. He, like Dayton and Horner, will meet with the Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce in the morning. Emmer’s staffer also says he Emmer a fundraiser scheduled with the Truckers Association.

Emmer says he can’t make the debate because of a fundraiser? I’m sorry, but I don’t think that’s a good enough reason. Of course, at least it’s a better answer than complaining that there have been too many debates:

“They are very important. It’s just one of those scheduling things,” Emmer said. “We’ve had a candidate (Democrat Mark Dayton) now for a week and we’ve already had three debates.”

Someone fetch me my tiny violin. Is Emmer actually complaining that he’s tired of debating? He’d rather be at a fundraiser than speaking directly to voters? Well, frankly, that’s just too bad. Ultimately, though, I don’t think is about fundraisers or the number of debates. Those were terrible excuses, but I think they’re actually better than the truth. 

My guess is that Emmer is concerned about being taken to task on his plans to eliminate local government aid. He knows that the CGMC audience is not necessarily going to be on his side, and so he’s bailing.

If that is the truth, then he’s a coward. After all, Mark Dayton appeared at both the Game Fair and the Chamber of Commerce debates. The Chamber of Commerce isn’t just a tough environment for Dayton, they’re actively working to elect Emmer through MN Forward. If Dayton can appear in front of the chamber, which is actually funding his opponent, Emmer can certainly appear in