Clinton wants Dems to sanction new debate

by Ben Kamisar - 01/27/16 12:51 PM ET

Hillary Clinton is calling for Democrats to sanction another presidential debate next week before the New Hampshire primary.

The New Hampshire Union Leader and MSNBC announced Tuesday they would host a debate next week, but the Democatic National Committee said the party would not sanction it. Democrats are prohibited by the DNC from taking part in unsantioned events.

Clinton called on the DNC to reverse course to allow everyone to participate.

“What I’ve said to my campaign is that I would look forward to another debate. I am, you know, anxious, if we can get something set up, to be able to be there. And so let’s try to make it happen,” the front-runner for the party nod said during an excerpt of an interview on MSNBC’s “Hardball” that will air Wednesday night.

{mosads}”I would like the chairman of the party and the campaigns to agree that we can debate in New Hampshire next week. That is what I’m hoping will happen.”

Martin O’Malley, polling a distant third behind both Clinton and Bernie Sanders, is the only candidate who has confirmed his participation in next week’s event.

Sanders’s campaign told the Union Leader that while it supports additional debates, it would not want a Sanders appearance in the unsanctioned debate to shut him out of future debates.

Clinton leveled a brief barb at Sanders’s stance during the interview, calling on the Vermont senator to “change his mind and join us,” attempting to cast him as an opponent of the MSNBC debate.

DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz has faced repeated criticism over the party’s debate schedule, which includes fewer debates than the GOP schedule as well as events during time frames that typically draw fewer viewers, such as weekends.

She’s pushed back on those attacks by asserting that this cycle’s debates have set party records for viewership and provides a balance between giving candidates national airtime with debates and them ample time to hit the trail.

Tags Bernie Sanders Debbie Wasserman Schultz Hillary Clinton Martin O'Malley