Republican Congressional candidate Ed Martin had hoped to begin a series of debates with incumbent Russ Carnahan tonight.

In fact, he planned on it.

But Martin -- never one to spend too much time on quiet reflection -- forgot one little detail: The opposition.

Despite's Martin's earlier announcement that the first of three debates between he and Carnahan would begin this evening, the Democrat's campaign agreed to no such timeline.

On Aug. 9, after both Martin and Carnahan won their respective primaries, Martin's campaign issued a news release with the subject "Debates Scheduled."

That the proposed moderator for the alleged debates was someone who had already endorsed Martin -- retired Donnybrook "provocateur" Martin Duggan --should have invited skepticism.  

And if that wasn't enough of a giveaway, there was the proposed topic for the final debate -- "Obamacare."

Carnahan, of course, didn't bite, which on Friday led the Martin campaign to issue a news release backpedaling from its original statement that the debates were set. (Subject line: Debates -- Still No Word.)

The revised release described tonight and two other evenings in August as"days that seem to work for Carnahan."

Actually, none of those days seem to work. Carnahan's campaign is sticking by its original offer to participate in a pair of debates hosted by the League of Women Voters --- in September.