The voice of and for USM students

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The voice of and for USM students

SM2

The voice of and for USM students

SM2

Clinton reluctant to accept debate parameters

Clinton+reluctant+to+accept+debate+parameters

On numerous occasions since January, Bernie Sanders has asked the Clinton campaign to have a debate before the New York primary. The Clinton campaign has unsurprisingly deflected each time.

According to Hillary Clinton, a presidential candidate should be willing to campaign for every vote and be ready to debate anywhere at any time. No, wait — they should be holding out for debates that match only their terms. With all this switching, I don’t know which Clinton to listen to.

After last week’s double disasters, any positive news would be a silver lining for the Clinton campaign. First, Clinton made a thinly-veiled delay attempt, saying they might be able to have more debates if Sanders changed his “tone.” Then, Clinton waved her finger in the face of an activist asking about her campaign contributions by lobbyists in the fossil fuel industry.

“I am so sick of the Sanders campaign lying about me,” Clinton said.

However, as many are quick to point out, there were no lies. The Clinton campaign has accepted $4.5 million dollars from oil industry lobbyists through their Super PAC, a fact that was originally put forth from Greenpeace — a company, I might add, not aligned with the Sanders campaign at all. So much for slinging mud. It almost seems like Clinton does not know what to do when confronted with facts.

After the hashtags #tonedownforwhat and #whichhillary started to trend, people shared the video of her proclaiming her readiness to debate at any moment. Like magic, the campaign released a statement saying that they would accept the Sanders campaign’s challenge to debate in New York before the primary, but the dates and times they offered are wildly inconvenient.

The first date offered was April 4, which is the night before the Wisconsin primary and on a night of the NCAA finals, no less. The second date offered was the night of April 14, the night of a GOP gala that will be extensively covered by CNN. This would split the debate’s viewership.

Realistically, April 14 and April 15 are the best options, though allegedly the offer for April 14 came through after the Sanders campaign announced a rally in Manhattan for that night. The Sanders campaign officially rejected the April 4 debate. Sanders staffers said they have pushed for additional dates, including one on April 17.

The third date offered was the morning of April 15, which she finally accepted on April 3, is a debate hosted on Good Morning America. According to the Clinton campaign, voters can expect to see her on GMA.

I shouldn’t even have to explain this one. GMA is a great place for a debate if you want to reach the sleepily eating oatmeal or the background-noise-while- I-get-ready-for work crowd.

The funniest part through it all is that after the Clinton campaign put forth these dates to counter the Sanders campaign’s offers and the Sanders campaign asked for better dates, the Clinton campaign said that they should stop “playing games.”

It seems that after being pressured by the Sanders campaign, Clinton stopped playing games.

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