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Obama nixes Ohio debate…for now
Sen. Barack Obama may not participate in a planned Feb. 27 debate in Ohio, saying he’d prefer to spend the time up to Ohio’s March 4 primary talking to voters, not to Sen. Hillary Clinton.
“Sen. Obama has debated Sen. Clinton 18 times during this campaign - including four times in the last month,” said Ben LaBolt, an Obama spokesman. “There will be more debates before this race is over. Right now, Sen. Obama will focus his time in Ohio on meeting with and listening to the concerns of voters rather than talking again to Sen. Clinton.”
The campaign left open the possibility that Obama might later change his mind.
Earlier in the day, Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson reiterated Clinton’s desire to hold a debate a week between the Feb. 5 Super Tuesday primary and March 4, the day that delegate-rich states Ohio and Texas are set to vote. Wolfson credited part of Clinton’s success on Super Tuesday to her debate performance. Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman, an Obama supporter, said he did not think Obama’s decision would impact his performance in the state.
“What Ohio wants is for Barack to be here and he can be here and see the people of the state, people in Columbus, Dayton, Cleveland and Cincinnati, without being in a debate,” Coleman said.
Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones, D-Cleveland, a Clinton supporter, said she was disappointed by the announcement. “I would hope he would be willing to give the people of Ohio the opportunity to hear him go one on one with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton,” she said. “The people of Ohio, in light of Ohio’s importance to this election, deserve that opportunity.”
If the Republican contest is still going, CNN is planning a GOP debate in Ohio on Feb. 28.
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