Democratic presidential candidates Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley have begged the Democratic National Committee to add more debates before the “Super Tuesday” primary elections to help them gain traction over frontrunner Hillary Clinton.
It’s a refrain that should sound familiar, as Clinton herself made the same request back in 2008 when she ran against then-Sen. Barack Obama. And there’s video to prove it.
An ad that aired in Wisconsin during the 2008 presidential campaign shows Team Clinton accusing Obama and others of avoiding debates so as to duck “tough questions,” Fox News reported Wednesday.
“Both Democratic candidates were invited to a televised debate here in Wisconsin,” the ad said. “Hillary Clinton has said yes. Barack Obama has not. Maybe he’d prefer to give speeches than have to answer questions — like why Hillary Clinton has the only health care plan that covers every American and the only economic plan that freezes foreclosures.”
“Wisconsin deserves to hear both candidates debate the issues that matter and that’s no debatable. I am Hillary Clinton and I approved this message,” it added.
There are currently only four Democratic debates scheduled prior to the 2015 Iowa causes. Two more debates are planned to take place after the Iowa and New Hampshire primary.
“Four debates? Four debates,” O’Malley said last week during the DNC’s summer meeting. “Four debates and four debates only — we are told and not asked — before voters in our earliest states make their decision.”
The former Maryland governor accused the Democratic Party of setting up a “rigged process” to ensure Clinton wins the nomination.
Clinton is far and away the Democratic frontrunner, though her polling numbers have slipped in recent months. It has also likely has been brought to Clinton’s attention that the self-professed socialist senator from Vermont is closing the polling gap between them.
The former secretary of State currently leads with 49.2 percent of the vote, while Sanders comes in second with 25 percent, according to a Real Clear Politics polling average.
