What's Lassiter afraid of (redux)?

"Eighty percent of success," Woody Allen famously said, "is showing up."

We sincerely hope John Lassiter is enjoying that remaining 20 percent.

On a damp predawn yesterday, Anthony arrived at the Fox Charlotte studios to appear on Fox News Rising for the fourth time this campaign.

A rundown of the previous three:

-- A pre-primary show to which all four candidates, Anthony and the three Republicans, were invited. Anthony showed. Martin Davis showed (of course). Jack Stratton showed. John Lassiter did not show.

-- Two post-primary shows to which Anthony and Lassiter were invited. Anthony showed. Lassiter did not.

-- Finally, Tuesday's show. Lassiter, praise be, showed up. On tape. The station had pre-recorded his responses to be aired within moments of a live interview with Anthony. The live interview -- in person, with the actual candidate! -- proceeded apace, as did Lassiter's "responses," which were taped God-knows-when.

This follows up last week's silliness, when Lassiter bowed out of a WTVI/WSOC/League of Women Voters debate because he objected to the number of allowed rebuttals.

Look, even giving Lassiter every benefit of every doubt -- maybe family matters got in the way, who knows? -- he at least ought to explain the absences. But there's another thing: Any political candidate ought to know instinctively that there's simply no substitute for being there. Want to run for office? You should be willing to meet your opponent anytime, anywhere, 24/7, we never close, to talk about the issues and what you'd do about them.

Failure to show, regardless of the reason, leaves voters with the impression that you're scared to go up against your opponent one-on-one, or maybe you believe the election is so deeply in the bag you don't have to bother with such trifles as TV appearances. Fine. See how well that works for you, John.