Strategy or scared?

Speaking of challengers with military backgrounds running against incumbents who don't want to debate, I'm scratching my head over John Linder's refusal to participate in a series of debates against Doug Heckman. Granted, Linder's got the political cover of opposing the bailout and is an entrenched Republican in Georgia, but it's more than weird for Linder to ...

- Decline an invitation from WSB-TV to take advantage of a five-minute recording to be played for viewers in the district, becoming the only major candidate to do so

- Refuse to participate in the United Peachtree Corners Civic Association public forum

- Refuse to participate in the Atlanta Press Club's debate televised by Georgia Public Television

Again, Linder's arguably the favorite in this thing, but it's crazy to simply refuse to share the stage with your opponent at all. I'm not sure why this is such a common practice for so many of the House Republicans in Georgia.