A Secret Senate Show

In the movies in which they starred as child actors, Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland frequently put on a show. Erskine Bowles and Elizabeth Dole put on a show — we think — over the weekend, but Erskine and Liddy approached it more like Dick Cheney than like Mickey and Judy. This show, a debate between the two U.S. Senate candidates, was at an undisclosed location, at an undisclosed time. The debate was videotaped and will be aired on television at 7 o’clock tonight.

Why all this Cheney-esque secrecy? Well, a joint statement released by the campaigns of Democrat Bowles and Republican Dole said it was to “maintain the integrity of the telecast.”

Say what? candidates for public office who debate in secret aren’t exactly dripping with integrity. Mickey and Judy put on a lot better shows.