He refuses to debate his Republican opponent, Tom Coburn, a doctor from Muskogee, the district's largest city.

"The primaries showed that voters believe that vigorously debating your opponent on issues is considered fair play," said one adviser to Mr. Gore.

I debated my opponent seven times," she said, "where the audience was overwhelmingly white male and overwhelming angry about illegal immigration.

"Rick is debating his opponent," she replies.

For example, in the 1986 race for Governor, he created an issue out of whether he would debate his Republican opponent.

But Mr. Brown nearly self-destructed while debating his opponent.

She said she had refused to debate her opponent because she did not believe in debating "someone that hasn't done anything."

Governor Cuomo, whose early refusal to debate his opponent drew some criticism, was appearing on a radio talk show that took telephone calls from the public.

She spoke in a theater where she'd debated her Democratic opponent during the Great War.

Mr. Wellstone was to have debated his Republican opponent, Norm Coleman, tonight.