With less than week left before the primary, Democratic contender for Washington Governor Christine Gregoire continues to sharply limit her debate appearances with party rival Ron Sims and the assured GOP nominee, Dino Rossi.

Today's Seattle Times carries news Gregoire skipped two debates yesterday in which Rossi and Sims both participated. One, last night, was to be televised statewide.

Her "Rose Garden" strategy is based partly on the assumption she can campaign like an incumbent, due to her high name recognition as sitting State Attorney General.

I believe she's also reluctant to get in the same room again, any sooner than necessary, with Rossi, the charismatic former state senator and committee chairman who was so closely involved in sensitive, bi-partisan negotiations over the state budget. When that happened earlier this year, one savvy Dem officeholder couldn't help noticing how Rossi creamed Gregoire and then-Dem contender Phil Talmadge, who later dropped out of the race for health reasons.

With current King County Executive Sims - a great stump speaker - running hard to the Left for the Dem gubernatorial nomination, and with a new strait jacket primary election system geared toward party die-hards, Gregoire's skittish pre-primary tack could be fatal.

No big deal about yesterday, her campaign contends. She was too busy.

Gregoire and her campaign gave a variety of reasons for skipping last night's debate — that she was too busy, that she didn't want to appear in a debate with Rossi until after the primary and that voters already have seen numerous exchanges between her and Sims.

While Gregoire and Sims have crossed paths at numerous campaign forums, there has been little direct interaction between the two candidates. Often, they appeared at the same public event but at different times and did not share the stage together. The two campaigns in July agreed to meet for three debates. But the ensuing negotiations over the terms of those events were a debacle.

In an August letter to the Sims campaign, Gregoire's campaign backed out of two of the proposed debates, saying she only would have time for one showdown with Sims.

The only true debate between the two Democrats will be Friday — just four days before the election. That event, hosted by the Seattle City Club, will air statewide on TVW.

Meanwhile, Sims looks like the one who's willing to take Rossi head-on; Gregoire's got stage fright.

Gregoire's team wants to just ride it out through the primary - she's the insider "above it all," while Sims and Rossi are getting more space to position themselves as agents of change. A strategy that, in her case, is none too Brilliant.

If she does squeak through next Tuesday past Sims - and that could certainly happen despite her worst efforts - she'd better be ready for Rossi.