Winnebago County Executive Mark Harris was in town last week so he stopped by the office to introduce himself.

Harris, who calls himself a fiscally conservative Democrat, is running for the 6th Congressional District seat being vacated by longtime Republican Rep. Tom Petri.

Interestingly, the soft-spoken and thoughtful Harris is telling the voters of the district that if they liked Petri, their congressman for the past 35 years, they better vote for him because his opponent, tea party favorite state Sen. Glenn Grothman, is nothing at all like the moderate Republican Petri.

As you've read in this space several times over the years, Grothman has said things about women, homosexuals, pregnancy, folks on food stamps and other cultural issues that have been known to make even right-wing Republicans cringe.

Apparently fearing more of the same during this congressional campaign, Grothman's handlers are keeping the state senator away from places where he may be asked to open his mouth — like at a debate, for instance.

Harris, of course, would like to engage the candidate face to face and has made it clear that he will appear any place at any time for the opportunity if only Grothman will provide it. So far, no dice.