Dance around debate

Clinton and Sanders dance around debate dates

By Nick Gass

The latest debate between the campaigns of Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders over Democratic debates is, by and large, a clash over dates.

In an interview with ABC's George Stephanopoulos that aired Monday on "Good Morning America," Clinton said her campaign had "offered dates, which they refused."

She also mentioned that "GMA" had offered a debate during its April 15 show.

"I’ll be there," Clinton said. "I think it’s a great opportunity to reach an audience that may not always be able because of other obligations to tune into debates. I understand there’s a debate in the works for the night of the 14th. I will be there. I want to debate, and I am confident that we can work out a debate to do that.”

Both of those dates have been rejected by the Sanders campaign, Clinton press secretary Brian Fallon said in a statement Saturday.

“Both offers for the night of April 14 and the morning of April 15 still remain," he wrote. "The Sanders campaign needs to stop using the New York primary as a playground for political games and negative attacks against Hillary Clinton. The voters of New York deserve better. Senator Sanders and his team should stop the delays and accept a debate on April 14 or the morning of April 15th.”

POLITICO on Saturday reported that CNN and NY1 News were approaching the Democratic National Committee for an April 14 debate in Brooklyn.

Sanders' campaign on Sunday blasted out two statements on the matter. Neither of them mentioned events on April 14 or April 15, though they both alluded to Sanders' major rally in New York City on the 14th.

In the first, campaign spokesman Michael Briggs declared that the "Clinton campaign should stop playing games," noting that the campaign had proposed April 10, April 11, April 12 or April 13 as possible days to debate before the New York primary on April 19.

"He looks forward to a debate on any of those days. Does she really have fundraisers on each of those nights?" Briggs wrote.

In the second, sent less than an hour later, Briggs shared that Sanders "has accepted an invitation from NBC News for a Sunday night prime-time debate on April 10."

"We hope the Clinton campaign also accepts," Briggs continued. "The April 10 debate date is one of four dates that the Sanders campaign had proposed for a debate with Secretary Clinton before the New York primary election."

Clinton's campaign had also suggested a debate Monday night, which the Sanders campaign rejected.

"The idea that they want a debate in New York on a night of the NCAA finals — with Syracuse in the tournament no less — is ludicrous," Briggs said Saturday before Syracuse lost to North Carolina in the Final Four. "We have proposed other dates which they have rejected. We hope we can reach agreement in the near future."