EAST CHICAGO, Ind. - Democratic presidential candidates have held more than 20 debates. Evidently that’s not enough for Hillary Clinton.
Clinton is pressing her final rival, Barack Obama, to debate her in Indiana and North Carolina, which hold their primary contests on May 6.
Either state would be fine, but both would be better, Clinton said on Friday.
“I’ll go anywhere and anytime. And we’ll have that debate as long as Senator Obama will agree to actually meet me,” Clinton said Friday morning in Jacksonville, North Carolina.
“I think the people of Indiana deserve a debate,” she told WFIE TV in Evansville, Indiana, several hours later. “We should be up there answering questions that are important to Hoosiers.”
This is a classic page from the underdog’s political playbook, last deployed by Republican Mike Huckabee before he conceded to John McCain in March.
If Obama accepts the challenge, he shares a stage with a rival that most political observers believe has little chance of winning the Democratic nomination. If he declines, he risks looking cowardly or disengaged.
The Obama campaign said it was not interested in more debates.
“While Senator Clinton is focused on debating debates … Senator Obama is focused on finding real solutions for our families,” spokesman Hari Sevugan said in an e-mail. “The difference in this election couldn’t be more clear.”
The two last met in Philadelphia last week, before that state gave Clinton a much-needed victory.
An April 27 debate in North Carolina was canceled by state party officials who cited logistical reasons.
Obama had agreed to participate in that debate while Clinton had not, Sevugan said.
Photo credit: Reuters/John Gress (Hillary Clinton campaigns in Indianapolis)
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No more free air time Hill. You aren’t skilled enough at fund raising to compete effectively, but that’s not the Obama campaign’s problem. You tried this debate bating in Wisconsin and he whupped ya. Just go out and run your own campaign. Also, in case you aren’t one of the half million or so watchers of this new movie on You Tube, here’s a link to a very informative discussion totally in Hillary’s own words. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exsmFDYyK 4U
- Posted by karelaHillary is not intelligent enough to be president. It’s clear that Hillary has given up trying to compete with Obama on political issues and is now trying her hardest to attract the uneducated & ignorant racist vote. If I were republican, I would be laughing my head off right now.
- Posted by MClinton is full of it!
Beware the forked tongue!
- Posted by Keith M WarwickIt is utterly ridiculous for Obama to act like he is the nominee after losing in Pennsylvania. This is simply a campaign tactic he is using in order to “appear” like he is still “it” to the superdelegates.
I for one, will not for a man who acts like a cry baby after he is asked “hard” questions in a debate by refusing to talk to the media for ten days, then whines when they ask him about waffles. Then has the audacity to whine about more debates. If Obama cannot debate Hillary then why in the heck should I believe he can debagte McCain??
- Posted by marsha, oregon[...] not sure how many Democratic debates there have been. Twenty-one, twenty-two? Clinton wants another one against Obama. The last debate featured questions about lapel pins. What’s on deck for this [...]
- Posted by Masson’s Blog - A Citizen’s Guide to Indiana » Hillary Challenges Obama to Debate #22?Hillary Clinton ‘heroic fight for the American people’? Oh that’s right — Bosnia and the sniper fire where she risked her life for us - what a great metaphor - one big lie
- Posted by michalI’m curious as to while the commentators were in the mud (Billary’s territory) they didn’t ask her why she won’t expose those contributors who paid millions to the Clinton library to buy their allegiance. Why are those pieces missing? By the very act of omission, there is deceit. Why would a presidential candidate not be proud to open their books. The obvious reason is they have mortgaged the white house. American’s will not own it. If the truth were known the Clintons have millions in ‘pay back’ favors to be doled out at the tax payers expense. Transparency should be of utmost importance. Why do you suppose commentators wouldn’t ask questions about the smoking gun. Beware Billary supporters, where there is hiding there is deceit
- Posted by michalSenator Obama should not succumb to another one of Billary’s mud fights. Truly they are both close in policies. The main difference between the two is that Obama leads with integrity, honor and grace - the embodiment of leadership. She is a mud slinging, lying hypocrit - it’s no wonder she relishes in the mud and wants to drag him into the mud pit - it’s familiar to her. He should not stoop to her level. Someone above the fray cannot win a low level competition all they can do is stay above the fray. Brush yourself off Obama and steer clear. America for leadership, truth, honor and candor -Obama. The antithesis is Billary. Her latest ‘we will obliterate Iran’ should scare the daylights out of Americans. That coupled with her vote for the Iraq war shows her true colors. I don’t want her on the other end of the 3 am call. For her to tout that she is a fighter? We don’t need fighters - we need diplomats who can solve with diplomacy - something Billary will never have and it shows - please open your eyes — you only need peak to see the truth.
- Posted by michalShe simply wants free advert. OBAMA 4 LIFE
- Posted by HenryI agree with the commenter that said…(paraphrase)Obama’s unwillingness to debate Hillary shows how he deals with issues… by turning his back to it when he’s had enough. The issue of finding the stronger democratic nominee is obviously of huge importance. Obama just appears lazy and self-aggrandizing, not noble for refusing to debate and proves himself to be the weaker one. Time will tell.
- Posted by openwindowVOTE AGAINST HILLARY ALL DAY LONG……..
- Posted by DeborahOBAMA ‘08
When you have high ideals, hope, optimism, integrity it’s a credit to Obama that he doesn’t want to scrap in the mud with Hillary. It’s a testament to his character that he doesn’t want to drag the country down her mud slinging past. I’m proud of Obama…dust yourself from that one and please continue to be the Billary anecdote. She’s the self professed ‘fighter’. I don’t want another fighter, I want a diplomat with integrity and honor. We don’t need a fighter - they are a dime a dozen. On the other hand, Obama, a true diplomat is unlike anything this country has seen since Kennedy…
- Posted by michalObama is not afraid of debating Hillary. He just realizes it is a waste of time. I’m sorry, but if the people of Indiana and North Carolina have managed to misss all of the TWENTY or more Democratic Debates, they are probably either not planning to vote, or do not hold much stock in debates anyway.
- Posted by Sara[...] desconocido wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptIf Obama accepts the challenge, he shares a stage with a rival that most political observers believe has little chance of winning the Democratic nomination. If he declines, he risks looking cowardly or disengaged. … [...]
- Posted by Clinton challenges Obama to more debatesDebate is the basis of our system of democracy. Bush and Obama seem to feel a dictatorship would be a lot easier for them. Then they can just say whatever they want unchallenged. Have you also noticed that Obama only appears on shows which support him. Hillary has appeared on shows that have been strongly against her, because she isn’t a coward. Obama refuses the press to follow him, whereas Clinton keeps an open book policy allowing them to cover all of her events. She is open to listening to the people instead of telling them pre-conceived notions like Obama does. Soon as somebody challenges him, it’s blasphemy. This was like George Bush when he accepted the presidency and he suppressed protests with police force. He cried bloody mary which got employees fired who brought up dirt against him, like his dodging the draft. Same tactics as Obama uses. Bush had to hire one of the best debating coaches and practice for a week to make a less than respectable performance in debates, just like Obama prepares for several days beforehand having his campaign manager tell him what to say and then does terrible in the debate. I don’t want another George Bush in the white house. Please vote against Obama!!! We need a candidate who is strong and smart without having people around him telling him what to do. No more puppets for president!
- Posted by jonathanObama is just full of words. If you want a winner look at Hillary. She is the one who has come back again and again despite looses. We need a resilient leader like her not jsut a new face (read Obama). We cannot have as a president a man who answers just “present” to issues that matter. He will be chewed up alive by the more politically astute foreign leaders where he should be representing our great nation. We need a strong person as our leader not just a man full of words.
- Posted by BeeObama never accepted a date to debate Clinton in Indiana & NC. It is white lies…Obama is afraid from debate after his big Loss in TX. and Ohio.
Core Democrat
Nelson Brown
- Posted by NelsonObama isn’t a “do anything to win” type. He know’s that the debates are now just mud slinging sessions at this point. He has been very vocal to the fact he is not interested in that forum. It’s not the point of his running for president. This is only a last resort of an extremely desperate campaign. It’s her last chance for exposure before she quickly becomes irrelevant.
I live in Oregon and I can tell you right now this will easily be an Obama state. So if you are keeping track, you can go ahead and scratch that one off the list as well.
- Posted by NoelWell said Catherine Y.
I can’t believe people aren’t seeing through Hillary’s bullcrap. People are so caught up in DRAMA that they aren’t paying attention to the real issues. These tactics are what got GWB elected and re-elected. Wake up America!
And why isn’t the Media talking about this story more in the news?
By Dick Morris & Eileen McGann
In this week’s debate, Hillary Clinton said all of her “baggage” has been “rummaged through” for years. But important features of her close relationship with known terrorist sympathizers and Hamas supporters are still opaque to the public view.
Her relationship with terrorists began in the mid-1980s when she served on the Board of the New World Foundation, which gave funds to the Palestine Liberation Organization, at a time when the PLO was officially recognized by the US government as a terrorist organization.
In 1996, the First Lady initiated an outreach program to bring Muslim leaders to the White House. But, as terrorism expert Steve Emerson noted in the Wall Street Journal: “Curiously, nearly all of the leaders with whom Mrs. Clinton elected to meet came from Islamic fundamentalist organizations. A review of the statements, publications, and conferences of the groups Mrs. Clinton embraced shows unambiguously that they have long advocated or justified violence. By meeting with these groups, the first lady lent them legitimacy as ‘mainstream’ and ‘moderate.’”
Among these radical groups was the American Muslim Council (AMA) and the Council on American-Islamic Relations, both groups that support Hamas, who attended a White House reception hosted by Hillary in February, 1996. Emerson says that its leaders “have sanctioned terrorism, published anti-Semitic statements, and repeatedly hosted conferences that were forums for denunciations of Jews and exhortations to wage jihad.”
- Posted by J. GriceGood post, Catherine Y. I have an son who recently turned 18 who feels much the same way.
The ABC debate was so slanted in Hillary’s favor that I found it disgusting. As you mentioned, the moderators even prefaced one of her questions with a “I know you don’t like to talk about this …” They didn’t do that with Obama. They didn’t ask why Hillary doesn’t wear a flag lapel pin. It was obvious that they wanted Hillary to win, but I think the American people were the ones who lost.
It’s time to get out of the “same old politics” rut and support a candidate who will listen the people — someone who can bridge gaps around the world. Someone who will surround himself with experts who will advise him so he can make the best possible decisions. It’s time to get rid of the old-style politics where a president chooses his advisors based on how much they donated to the campaign or based on which one is owed a favor. I think Obama is the only candidate who can accomplish this.
- Posted by Judy