MARION, Ind. — Hillary Rodham Clinton took the Democratic primary battle to a new level Saturday, challenging Barack Obama to face off with her in a debate without a moderator, Lincoln-Douglas style.
“Just the two of us, going for 90 minutes, asking and answering questions, we’ll set whatever rules seem fair,” Clinton said while campaigning in South Bend.
Her campaign made the offer formal with a letter to the Obama campaign.
Obama aides said he had already debated Clinton 21 times, “the most in primary history.”
“Over the next 10 days, we believe it’s important to talk directly to the voters of Indiana and North Carolina,” said Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs.
The more open style of debating where each side presents an argument gets its name from the famed debates that took place during the 1858 U.S. Senate race in Illinois between Republican Abraham Lincoln and Democrat Stephen Douglas.
Trailing in delegates and the popular vote, Clinton has been stepping up the pressure on Obama in advance of primaries on May 6 in Indiana and North Carolina. Clinton argued that Obama won’t debate because he is unhappy with questions from moderators during the April 16 debate just before the Pennsylvania primary. After that debate, Obama complained it focused too much on political trivia and too little on real issues.
Both rivals were focusing on Indiana, with Clinton bringing along popular Sen. Evan Bayh and talking about reviving the industrial economy.
“We can do that again, but we need, as Sen. Bayh said, a president who doesn’t just talk about it but who actually rolls up her sleeves and gets to work,” Clinton said.
The Associated Press
