Remember back in the primaries, one candidate refused to debate another candidate? That unwilling debater said more debates in states that had yet to hold primaries were not necessary, that his schedule could not accommodate any more debates, and gave various other "reasons" for refusing to show up. Now, in a primary contest that I am following with keen interest, Debate Aversion Syndrome (DAS) has struck again. Latest victim: John Kerry. Senator Kerry seems unable to bring himself to appear in a debate in Massachusetts to face off on the issues against the candidate challenging him in the primary. That challenger is Ed O'Reilly, and yes, for the first time since Senator Kerry won election to the Senate, he is not running unopposed in the primary to pick the Democratic candidate to run for the junior senator spot from Massachusetts in the general election. Thirteen days ago Ed O'Reilly invited John Kerry to debate in each of Massachusetts' 14 counties. As Ed's campaign explained recently: Sounds right to me. If Senator Kerry shows up to just one such debate, and if I have the chance to attend, I assure you I will be there. The District of Columbia, where I live, has no Senators. Therefore, I hold every Senator responsible for representing we residents of the nation's capital. If Senator Kerry cannot even make it to Massachussetts to debate Ed O'Reilly, I doubt he has any time or energy to spare for considering the interests of those of us who live in Washington, DC.