Clinton, Sanders May Hold New York Debate Before State's Primary
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/CBS News) -- U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vermont) on Tuesday said he expects a debate with Democratic presidential contest rival Hillary Clinton will be coming in New York -- before the state's primary next month.
"Let's do it," Sanders said on CNN Tuesday.
Sanders had been pushing for a debate in New York, where Clinton lives and served as U.S. Senator. But he claimed Clinton's campaign had opposed the idea for more than a month.
"I would hope very much that as we go into New York state, Secretary Clinton's home state, that we will have a debate -- New York City, upstate, wherever -- on the important issues facing New York and in fact the country," Sanders said Sunday in an interview with NBC News.
Asked if he was worried Clinton would no longer want to debate him, Sanders responded: "Yeah, I do have a little bit of concern about that. But I certainly would like to see a debate in New York state."
In January, both Clinton and Sanders agreed to add more debates to the Democratic primary calendar, CBS News reported. One, scheduled in March, was held in Michigan, per Sanders' request. The details of a May debate in California are also being worked on.
But in April, Sanders' campaign is pushing for a Democratic forum to take place in New York.
On Sunday, the campaign made the request official, when Sander's campaign manager Jeff Weaver sent a letter to Clinton's campaign manager, Robby Mook.
"Given the outcome of electoral contests since March 15, it is clearer than ever that New York will play a critical role in determining the Democratic nominee," Weaver wrote. "However, your campaign has consistently chosen to deny the people of New York the opportunity to see Senator Sanders and Secretary Clinton debate in the Empire State."
Weaver further questioned why the debate schedule had yet to be locked down.
"It is difficult to understand your motivation," Weaver told Mook. "Can you please explain why New York should not host the April debate? Is the Secretary concerned about debating before the people who twice elected her to the U.S. Senate? Perhaps there is some tactical advantage you are seeking by avoiding a debate in New York."
But earlier Tuesday, Clinton press secretary Brian Fallon said on the Bloomberg Television program "With All Due Respect" that Clinton was "perfectly willing" to debate in New York.
"This was a little bit of a tempest in a teapot that been played out the last 36 hours. You know, we were the ones back in February that had said that we were willing to do more debates, and so I think that what threw this process for a loop was that the Sanders campaign decided to issue a letter publicly, because there's usually a process where the campaigns will work together privately through the DNC and come up with a debate schedule, and so we've always intended to go through that process," Fallon said.
But he said the Clinton campaign had contacted the Sanders campaign through the Democratic National Committee, saying Clinton is willing to debate in April.
"A debate, like we've had several of so far" is what would be planned, Fallon said on the channel.
He said if a "mutually agreeable" date is found for a New York debate, "it could happen."
Sanders hopes to be competitive in the Democrats' New York state primary, scheduled for April 19. The state has 247 delegates up for grabs and is the largest nominating contest in the month of April.
A recent Emerson poll gives Clinton 71 percent and Sanders 23 percent, plus or minus 5 percent.
Political consultant Bill Cunningham told CBS2 Political Reporter Marcia Kramer that the results of the primaries in Connecticut and Rhode Island, which come before New York, could help Sanders.
"If he were to win both Connecticut and Rhode Island, and cut her margins in some of the other states before New York, then that might open up some eyes here and energize the types of voters that he's been getting elsewhere," Cunningham said.
