--- title: Clinton and Sanders Camps Clash on Details of New Debates description: The times and places of four new meets are sticking points canonical: https://time.com/4201292/debates-hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders/ author: Sam Frizell article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-01-30T21:23:49.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-13T19:27:24.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: Clinton and Sanders Camps Clash on Details of New Debates og:description: The times and places of four new meets are sticking points og:url: https://time.com/4201292/debates-hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf4892d07fa141440/69887abcf887dc3121e94528/clinton-sanders1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2000 og:image:height: 1125 og:image:alt: clinton-sanders og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Clinton and Sanders Camps Clash on Details of New Debates twitter:description: The times and places of four new meets are sticking points twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf4892d07fa141440/69887abcf887dc3121e94528/clinton-sanders1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Clinton and Sanders Camps Clash on Details of New Debates > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Sam Frizell](https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Updated: Dec 13, 2023 7:27 PM UTCPublished: Jan 30, 2016 9:23 PM UTC  Hillary Clinton in Charleston, SC on Jan. 17, 2016 (R); Bernie Sanders in Las Vegas, Nevada on Nov. 9, 2015. Hillary Clinton in Charleston, SC on Jan. 17, 2016 (R); Bernie Sanders in Las Vegas, Nevada on Nov. 9, 2015. Andrew Burton—Getty Images (R); Ethan Miller—Getty Images by [Sam Frizell](https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Updated: Dec 13, 2023 7:27 PM UTCPublished: Jan 30, 2016 9:23 PM UTC Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders’ campaigns have agreed to meet for four new debates over the coming months—in theory. But major kinks remain as the campaigns work out their disagreements. Sanders is seeking a firm commitment from the Hillary Clinton campaign for debates in March, April, May, according to a person familiar with the negotiations. Meanwhile, the Clinton campaign wants Sanders to attend a debate next week this person said. “We think it should be an orderly process, and not an ad hoc process,” said Tad Devine, Sanders’ campaign strategist. “We have to agree to them not just theoretically.” He added that it would not be acceptable for Clinton to be able to walk into “a state where she’s behind and says she wants to have a debate.” **Read More:** [_Follow Clinton and Sanders Supporters as They Knock on Doors in New Hampshire_](http://time.com/4184593/hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders-new-hampshire/) The Sanders campaign does not want to meet in a debate next week in New Hampshire unless it has a firm commitment from the Clinton campaign, which has so far declined to settle on strict dates in March, April and May that have been proposed. A Clinton campaign official did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the ongoing discussions. Sanders wants to ensure he will be on a national stage with Hillary Clinton in the coming months, no matter what the outcome of the primary contests in Iowa and New Hampshire. A longer debate schedule would mean that his campaign will have a longer timeline to remain in the race against Clinton. Clinton, meanwhile, who is an adroit debater, is hoping to see Sanders on a debate stage in New Hampshire ahead of the primary there, where the Vermont senator has taken a wide lead. But Clinton wants to avoid a drawn-out primary fight against Sanders. Clinton campaign has agreed in principle to future debates but has not locked down a commitment. Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta said Saturday afternoon that the campaigns should hold one debate in Flint, Michigan, the site of a recent water crisis. “We should use the spotlight of the presidential campaign to keep the focus on Flint, and to lift up the historic underlying issues that Flint and too many other predominantly low-income communities of color across America are struggling with every day,” Podesta said. **Read more**: [_The Tale of Two Democratic Rallies in Dubuque_](http://time.com/4201067/hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders-iowa-rallies/) Later on Saturday, the Podesta said in a statement that “there is nothing worse than a debate about debates” and exhorted Sanders’ campaign. “Enough of the games,” Podesta said. “The Sanders campaign proposal has been met in all respects.” A Sanders aide disputed that characterization. “They have not agreed to our dates,” the aide said. “Set the dates and we’re ready to go.” The Democratic Party said earlier this week that it would not sanction the debate in New Hampshire next week, though that position may not hold if the campaigns make other arrangements. The Democratic National Committee has previously been open to adding debates after New Hampshire votes. A party official did make clear, however, that the party would not support the New Hampshire _Union Leader_, which unilaterally announced a debate time and place next Thursday with MSNBC, as a debate sponsor. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4201292/debates-hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4201292/debates-hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders/"},"headline":"Clinton and Sanders Camps Clash on Details of New Debates","datePublished":"2016-01-30T21:23:49.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-13T19:27:24.000Z","description":"The times and places of four new meets are sticking points","url":"https://time.com/4201292/debates-hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders/","keywords":["Debates","Hillary Clinton","democrats","Bernie Sanders","Flint"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf4892d07fa141440/69887abcf887dc3121e94528/clinton-sanders1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sam Frizell","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf4892d07fa141440/69887abcf887dc3121e94528/clinton-sanders1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"clinton-sanders","caption":"Hillary Clinton in Charleston, SC on Jan. 17, 2016 (R); Bernie Sanders in Las Vegas, Nevada on Nov. 9, 2015.","creditText":"Andrew Burton—Getty Images (R); Ethan Miller—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/debates/","name":"Debates"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4201292/debates-hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders/","name":"Clinton and Sanders Camps Clash on Details of New Debates"}}]}] ```