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Clinton, Sanders continue back-and-forth over debate date

 
People wait to hear Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders on Sunday in Wausau, Wis. After much prodding from Sanders for a debate ahead of the New York primary on April 19, Hillary Clinton agreed to April 14. But his campaign says it’s a no-go because it conflicts with plans for a New York City rally at a prime venue.
People wait to hear Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders on Sunday in Wausau, Wis. After much prodding from Sanders for a debate ahead of the New York primary on April 19, Hillary Clinton agreed to April 14. But his campaign says it’s a no-go because it conflicts with plans for a New York City rally at a prime venue.
Published April 4, 2016

Hillary Clinton on Sunday sought to put an end to the debate over the debate.

After much prodding by Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont to persuade her to agree to another debate before the April 19 primary in New York, Clinton said she would attend a debate April 14 in Brooklyn, the borough that houses both candidates' campaign headquarters and where Clinton spent Sunday speaking to congregants at several black churches.

"I will be there. I think you've penciled it in for the 14th. I'll be there," Clinton told NY1 news channel.

But an April 14 debate remains a no-go for the Sanders campaign. His campaign says the date conflicts with a major rally Sanders plans to hold in a prime New York City venue that has granted a hard-to-get permit. Michael Briggs, a spokesman for Sanders, said the campaign had proposed four other dates.

"I'm confident that we will work out a time that's good for both of our schedules and when large numbers of people will be watching," Sanders told CNN.

The fight over the Brooklyn debate is just the latest dust-up in a Democratic primary in which both campaigns have prided themselves on policy-minded civility.

"The Sanders campaign needs to stop with the games," Brian Fallon, a Clinton spokesman, said Saturday, noting that the Sanders campaign had rejected three proposed dates for a debate before the New York primary.

But Briggs said that at least one of those proposed dates was "ludicrous" as it would have conflicted with the NCAA men's basketball finals.