Rick Boucher is running from his record

In the Virginia 9th district congressional race, Republican challenger Kevin Triplett has repeatedly issued challenges to incumbent Democrat Rick Boucher to appear at a series of debates. Boucher has agreed to one debate in Roanoke this Friday which will be broadcast to about 1/3 of the 9th district voters forgoing the others citing a busy schedule. Triplett wanted multiple debates or candidate forums throughout the district to allow the majority of voters an opportunity to hear from the candidates. Boucher's refusal to participate in the forums has caused organizers to cancel them. He was invited to appear at forums on October 19 and October 21. Instead he will be attending fundraisers (see them here and here). Why is Boucher afraid to debate? Perhaps he doesn't want people to find out the truth about his record that it reflect's John Kerry's values more than Southwest Virginia values.

If the president can take time out from prosecuting a war and conducting a national campaign to take questions from voters on three occasions, shouldn't Southwest Virginia expect our Congressman to forgo a couple of fundraisers to answer our questions?