Last Monday, Team Nickels turned down our request to interview with the Stranger editorial board. They didn’t like our coverage (too “unfair” and “mean,” they told us), & so they didn’t believe they had a shot at getting our endorsement. We were disappointed, and told them, “Whatever, good luck.”

24 hours later they said they had reconsidered, and they begged us to let them come in. Sloppy! But nonetheless, we wanted to sit down with Nickels and his opponent Al Runte, and so, we said yeah, let’s make this happen.

Now, thanks to some more sloppy maneuvering from Team Nickels, the interview isn’t going to happen after all.

Here’s the deal: On Wednesday, after it was all agreed that the mayor should come in, we worked with Team Nickels to schedule a time when both Nickels and his opponent Al Runte could come in. We offered them several times. But the only time Team Nickels would agree to didn’t work for Runte. So we decided it wasn’t worth it.

It’s pretty disappointing. We had wanted to see Nickels square off with Runte. Is Nickels scared to sit down with Runte in front of the Stranger ed board?

We also wanted to ask Nickels what the whole “We’re not coming in, please let us come in” thing was about. The “Please let us come in” pitch came after Team Nickels reassessed our coverage and realized they actually had a shot at our endorsement: We’re not keen on Runte and despite some specific disagreements with Nickels (monorail, developer giveaways, south lake union, strip clubs), we’re basically Nickels fans. So, WTF Team Nickels?, does access to the mayor depend on positive coverage?

Our endorsements come out this Wednesday.