Clinton And Sanders Embroiled In A ‘Debate Of The Debate’

Presidential candidates Hillary Clinton photo via Wikipedia and Bernie Sanders Photo: Nick Solari

Both the Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders campaigns have been engaged in a brouhaha that has “fuhgettaboutit” written all over it.

The Democratic candidates can’t seem to finalize details about a debate that would take place in Brooklyn before the New York State Democratic Primary which will take place on April 19.

Brooklyn-born Sanders originally challenged Clinton to spar on home soil, although she initially declined to do so. However, CNN reports that “her aides have been working with the Democratic National Committee behind the scenes to solidify a date.”

According to Brian Fallon, Clinton’s national press secretary, Clinton suggested April 4, 14 and 15 as possibilities, however all three dates were rejected by the Sanders campaign.

In a released statement, Bernie Sanders’ spokesperson Michael Briggs said:

“We are very pleased that Secretary Clinton finally has accepted our request for a debate about the needs of New York and America. Unfortunately, the dates and venues she has proposed don’t make a whole lot of sense.”

“The idea that they want a debate in New York on a night of the NCAA finals — with Syracuse in the tournament no less — is ludicrous. We have proposed other dates which they have rejected. We hope we can reach agreement in the near future. The people of New York and America deserve to see and hear a debate on the important issues facing the state and country.”

[Syracuse will not appear in the Championship Game after losing to North Carolina.]

Fallon said that the Sanders’ campaign “needs to stop with the games. Over the course of the last week, we have offered three specific dates for a debate in New York, all of which the Sanders campaign rejected.”

A “debate of letters” has now ensued between the campaign managers. CNN reports that Sanders’ campaign manager Jeff Weaver sent a letter to Robby Mook, Clinton’s campaign manager, which says “your campaign has consistently chosen to deny the people of New York the opportunity to see Senator Sanders and Secretary Clinton debate in the Empire State.”

Brooklyn has become a hotbed of the Democratic Presidential campaign, revving up a bit more after Sanders opened a campaign office in Gowanus on March 26. Clinton signed a lease about about a year ago before moving her campaign headquarters into One Pierrepoint Plaza in Brooklyn Heights.

Sanders is also making inroads into Sunset Park, thanks to dedicated volunteers, reports The Huffington Post, which notes that awareness doesn’t automatically translate into coming to the polls in April and, later, November.

Throughout the summer, Bernie volunteers made a big push in Sunset Park by signing up new voters and distributing flyers in Spanish. In the beginning, the number one question on the minds of passers-by was “Who’s Bernie?” Some six months later, with people now tuning in to the electoral stakes, the good news is that Sanders enjoys a fair amount of support in the neighborhood.

To the degree that people are tuning in, however, many are also embracing Hillary Clinton who may be on par with Bernie or even enjoy a slight edge (bizarrely, some Latinos now also support Donald Trump). On the purely generational level, it seems Bernie has broader appeal amongst Latino youth while older folk may dismiss kids as being naïve or even “confused” for aspiring to tuition-free education at state colleges. Over time, more Latinos have joined the campaign though Sunset Park has represented a significant uphill battle: while many youth sign the volunteer forms, very few show up to subsequent meetings. Months later, it’s still non-Latino whites organizing within the community as opposed to the Latinos of Sunset Park canvassing their own neighborhood, suggesting some kind of cultural or psychological barrier.

So who’s more Brooklyn? Clinton’s campaign was criticized for keeping the offices off limits to the media for three months, and initially not being the most welcoming of offices. And Bernie was unaware until recently that subway tokens haven’t been used here since 2003.

While tokens and campaign office visits have been cleared up, debate details still remain rather murky.

Reporting contributed by Heather Chin.