Bob Schieffer

April madness

mtomsic — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 12:21:16 -0400

Tickets are available for the Democratic presidential debate on April 27.

The debate will be held at the RBC Center in Raleigh.

A random drawing will determine who receives tickets. To apply for the drawing, visit the N.C. Democratic Party's website.

The debate will be held in partnership with the N.C. Democratic Party, CBS News and N.C. State University. Katie Couric and Bob Schieffer will moderate.

"With 134 delegates at stake, North Carolina is an important state in the Democratic presidential primary," said Jerry Meek, N.C. Democratic Party chairman in a statement. "We're getting deluged with phone calls and e-mails from North Carolinians who want to hear both candidates discuss issues critical to our state.

Barack Obama's campaign still has not agreed to the debate.

The debate is on?

ryanteaguebeckwith — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 17:19:54 -0400

Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton would debate in Raleigh.

The North Carolina Democratic Party announced today that the two presidential candidates would face off at the RBC Center on April 27.

The 90-minute debate would be sponsored by N.C. State and CBS News. It is scheduled to begin at 8 p.m., immediately following "60 Minutes."

Katie Couric and Bob Schieffer will moderate.

Update: Obama has not yet agreed to the debate.

"We have not received word from the Obama campaign, but we are confident they will agree. North Carolina has 115 delegates and 19 superdelegates," wrote Democratic Party spokeswoman Kerra Bolton in an e-mail to Dome.

Second Update: Obama's campaign confirms that the press release may be a bit premature.

"Senator Obama has debated Senator Clinton more than 20 times so far, and our campaign agreed to another debate in North Carolina that was proposed for the third week of April," wrote spokesman Dan Leistikow in an e-mail to Dome. "Unfortunately, the Clinton campaign vetoed that date. We are still determining whether or not the later date works for Senator Obama's schedule.

Clinton announces debate, ad buy

ryanteaguebeckwith — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 13:38:48 -0400

Hillary Clinton agreed Thursday to a nationally televised debate in North Carolina on April 27.

"CBS has offered to host a debate and I've accepted the debate for April 27th," Clinton said in a telephone conference with North Carolina reporters.

She also announced that she would begin Friday with an unusual statewide TV advertising campaign in which she would answer questions submitted in advance by Tar Heel voters during 60-second commercials, Rob Christensen reports.

"I want to be accessible to the people of North Carolina as possible," Clinton said.

It was not clear whether her rival in the May 6th Democratic primary, Barack Obama, will accept the debate. But he had accepted an earlier proposal.

The 90-minute debate would be aired at 8 p.m following "60 Minutes." It would be sponsored by CBS and the North Carolina Democratic Party and would be moderated by CBS anchor Katie Couric and CBS correspondent Bob Schieffer.

Jerry Meek, the state Democratic chairman, said two sites are being weighed: N.C. State University in Raleigh and the Blumenthal Center in Charlotte.

N.C. debate sounding debatable

ryanteaguebeckwith — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 20:38:19 -0400

Debates don't work as a solo act.

That's why reports this week of a N.C. Democratic presidential debate quickly fell flat when it became clear that Sen. Hillary Clinton had not signed on.

On top of those mixed signals, N.C. First Lady Mary Easley is trying to get a piece of the debate action for her employer, according to campaign officials. She is involved in an effort to get the debate held at N.C. State University, where she teaches law-related courses, Mark Johnson reports.

A Raleigh TV station's Web site reported the debate as a done deal Thursday evening with details, such as the date (April 19), the host (CBS) and moderators (CBS' Katie Couric and Bob Schieffer.)

The story noted, though, that while Obama's team had agreed, Clinton's had not.

"The date presented a logistical problem because it was right before the Pennsylvania primary (on April 22)," sad Kerra Bolton, spokeswoman for the N.C. Democratic Party. "You often have (a situation) where one candidate agrees to one debate and another candidate agrees to another debate and they have to work out the details. That's what you see here."

Obama agrees to N.C. debate

bkrueger — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 19:10:36 -0400

Barack Obama has agreed to a debate in North Carolina on April 19.

The debate, at a site to be determined, will be hosted by CBS and moderated by Katie Couric and Bob Schieffer.

Obama's campaign just announced that he would participate. No word yet on whether Hillary Clinton will be there.