Advertisement

  Stock Sponsor
Click here for full stock listings


Published: April 2, 2008 5:21 a.m.

Debate in Indiana pushed

By Sylvia A Smith
Washington editor
Thumbnail

Associated Press photos

Advertisement
Thumbnail

As Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton battle for the state’s 72 delegates to the Democratic National Convention, a move is under way to get the two to debate before the May 6 primary.

Obama to visit Muncie
 Presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama will be back in Indiana on Friday. Obama’s campaign says the Democratic candidate will attend an event in Muncie in the early afternoon. Details have not been released.

 According to the Star Press, Friday was chosen because it is the 40th anniversary of Robert Kennedy’s visit to Muncie, where he first learned of the assassination of Martin Luther King on April 4, 1968.

WASHINGTON – A group of news outlets and civic organizations has asked Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama to debate in Indiana before the May 6 primary.

Neither campaign has answered the letters, which were sent this week from the Indiana Debate Commission to propose an April 24 televised debate.

The candidates have agreed to an April 16 debate in Philadelphia before the Pennsylvania primary six days later. Democrats in Indiana and North Carolina will vote May 6.

Dan Parker, chairman of the Indiana Democratic Party and a Clinton supporter, said the state organization rejected an inquiry from a national news outlet to participate in a debate. He said the cost – $250,000 – was prohibitive.

But the Indiana Debate Commission is pursuing its invitation to the two campaigns. CNN would co-sponsor the debate.

Kevin Finch, president of the commission and news director of WISH-TV in Indianapolis, said most of the details are flexible, including the date.

He said the commission wants to “take advantage of this unique situation to Indiana, which is for the first time in 40 years we’re a battleground state in a presidential primary. The people in this state are very curious about these candidates. Beside personal appearances, this is another way to hear from them and to assess their stands on issues versus what the voters think.”

Finch said the debate would be carried by PBS stations in Indiana and would be made available to any TV station that wanted to air the program.

sylviasmith@jg.net

– Associated Press