* Eric Zorn…

I get it.

I’m not happy that Democratic gubernatorial candidate J.B. Pritzker has declined to participate in a spirited exchange with incumbent Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner on Friday morning at the Tribune Editorial Board. But I understand, as a matter of political strategy, why he’s taking a pass.

He’s ahead in the polls, and it’s customary for candidates who believe they have solid leads to limit their encounters with opponents. Such encounters are risky. Flubs, brain freezes and the inadvertent disclosure of uncomfortable truths are always possible, and merely sharing a platform with underdogs stands to give them traction with the public.

This reluctance is particularly true for well-funded candidates, such as the billionaire Pritzker, who don’t need the exposure and can safely reach voters with barrages of scripted commercials.

The Tribune editorial board issued its own harumph today.

* Tina Sfondeles…

Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner and his Democratic challenger J.B. Pritzker will appear together before the Sun-Times Editorial Board next month.

Both have agreed to meet for an endorsement session on October 9. The session will be live-streamed.

Pritzker declined to appear alongside Rauner in the Chicago Tribune’s Editorial Board endorsement session on Friday morning. The newspaper endorsed Rauner in the March primary.

While the endorsement sessions are intended for editorial board members to decide which candidate the newspaper will endorse, the meeting is a debate of sorts.