Hillary Clinton says she's looking forward to debating Donald Trump, and she will probably get her chance.
And it's hard to even get the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee to say much of anything about it.
"The DNC will continue to facilitate negotiations with both of our candidates," DNC spokesman Mark Paustenbach said when asked about the status of the debate Saturday. The Clinton campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
Sanders has agreed to participate, and his campaign has accused Clinton of balking. She is far ahead of her rival in popular votes and in the crucial delegate count, but Sanders continues to win state contests and display staying power. He has pledged to remain in the race through the party nominating convention in July.
Clinton, who told CNN last week that there is no question she will be the nominee, is trying mightily to shed the divisive primary and move on to the brutal and expensive contest with Trump. In the meantime, she is in an awkward spot.
Debating Sanders at this point would appear to elevate him to a status of an active competitor with a chance of winning, which she says he no longer has. It would also give him a new platform to criticize her, something he has proved adept at doing and which Trump has celebrated by repeating many of Sanders's charges. Not debating him could look petty, since she had agreed to do so when he posed a greater threat to her. And it could make it harder to draw his skeptical supporters into the party fold if he is defeated.
Fox News would broadcast the phantom debate, if it happens. The network sent letters of invitation to Sanders and Clinton on Tuesday. Anchor Bret Baier told viewers Friday that he's still waiting for an answer from the Clinton campaign.
“We hope Secretary Clinton will soon make good on her campaign’s commitment and agree to a time and place for a debate,” Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver said in a statement last week. “There are issues of enormous importance facing the people of California and our nation and the people of our largest state deserve to hear the Democratic candidates opinions.”
Although the original agreement called for May, Fox is now likely to propose a matchup in San Francisco on June 6, the night before the California primary. It would be held in partnership with the San Francisco Chronicle, which editorialized about the standoff earlier this month.
"We agree that Clinton should keep the promise she made in February to participate in three previously unscheduled debates, including one in California," the newspaper wrote. "She may have a significant lead in delegates, but she has yet to clinch the nomination or compel Sanders to leave the race — and, until that happens, she has an obligation to do more than go through the motions of campaigning."
