If you're a Conrad Burns kind of guy, you probably think the senator won Sunday's debate. If you're a Jon Tester kind of dude, you'll no doubt think the Democratic challenger was the winner.

But if you're an undecided voter waiting until you could see the candidates side by side, Sunday was your kind of day.

That's because the one-hour debate between Burns and Tester, sponsored by the Montana Broadcasters Association, was all over the dial on Sunday, showing up on any given channel live or on tape throughout much of the day. If you missed it, you had to be working pretty hard to avoid it.

In Helena the debate was broadcast at 9 a.m. 10 a.m., noon or 4 p.m. on local channels or channels available on cable, or you could watch it live on C-Span, and again at 8 p.m. and midnight. Radio stations carried it at 9 a.m. or at noon. All major daily newspapers responded with front-page stories above the fold, and their Web sites provided quick and balanced coverage.

In other words, you certainly didn't have to show up in Whitefish at 9 a.m. to catch the action.

Inevitably, especially given the national attention focused on this race, many Montanans are going to get most of their information from advertising paid for by candidates or other special interest groups. You can bet that information will be spun faster than a major league curve ball, which makes it all the more important for voters to get a chance to see how the candidates actually answer (or dodge) tough questions and to read coverage putting those answers in perspective.

The IR and Hometown Helena are among Montana organizations planning more debates. Let's hope, unlike the recent debate in Missoula that Burns decided to skip, the candidates and the media coverage combine to keep giving voters easy access to the information they'll need in November.