And they’re off. The five-way 1998 Maine gubernatorial race has begun. Somebody tell the favorites.

All five ballot candidates — Gov. Angus King, Republican James Longley Jr., Democrat Tom Connolly, independent/Green Pat LaMarche and independent/Taxpayer Bill Clarke — were invited to a live Maine Public Television forum Thursday night.

Gov. King declined, citing a previous engagement at a Belfast banquet. An attempt to fit a taping of the program around the governor’s dining schedule failed. Longley, miffed that his primary target won’t be within range, also passed. The show went on with Connolly, LaMarche and Clarke.

The TV station says invitations to the “MaineWatch” clambake were sent out at least two weeks ago. Connolly, rightfully critical of the no-shows, says he was advised of the program date a month ago. The governor’s staff say they only heard about it last week.

Whatever. A week is plenty of time to arrange for an hour or so of taping for anyone truly interested in participating. The governor’s excuse of simply being booked solid just doesn’t hold up. Longley’s “me neither” was the more straightforward response, but the wrong one.

As the incumbent, King certainly has little to gain by offering himself up to four opponents intent on trashing his record. As the best-known opponent at this stage, Longley has an interest in promoting the impression that this is a two-candidate race, with three longshots just cluttering things up.

But the campaign strategies of the two leading candidates are secondary to their obligations to present themselves before the public in an open forum. King and Longley no doubt will have plenty of chances, and money, to get their messages out through finely spun campaign ads. Voters have precious few opportunities to see the candidates unvarnished and those opportunities must not be squandered.

There are enough legitimate issues to keep all five candidates fully occupied between now and November. The issues of who’s avoiding debates and who’s acting out of spite are not needed. This poor start must not color the entire campaign.