As Obama Pledges More Troops, Candidates Duck Veterans

Ken Isaacson is a Marine and a veteran of Afghanistan. He runs an organization that lobbies for veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan on Beacon Hill. For weeks, he's been inviting the four Democrats in the Senate race to a forum where veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and their families could ask questions.

So far, the only candidate to have accepted Isaacson's invitation is Mike Capuano. Martha Coakley's campaign cited a scheduling conflict. Steve Pagliuca's campaign says it's trying to find time in the candidate's schedule. Alan Khazei's campaign says Isaacson hasn't gotten back to him. He says the campaign, alone among the four campaigns, has also refused to answer a questionnaire about veterans' issues.

No word yet from the Khazei campaign.