U.S. & World

Obama Refuses Clinton's Request For More Debates

Democratic Presidential Hopefuls Continue To Duke It Out After Clinton's Big Win In Pennsylvania

CHICAGO (CBS) ― There's no time to rest for Democratic presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Both candidates were in Indiana Wednesday, following a hard-fought battle Tuesday night in Pennsylvania's primary.

Clinton says she's energized following her big win, and Obama says he is still confident he can win the nomination.

Now, Clinton wants to take the fight to the voters: she insists they deserve more face-to-face debates.

CBS 2 Political Editor Mike Flannery reports Obama has already turned thumbs down on a debate tentatively scheduled for North Carolina in a few days, and said Wednesday that, after 21 televised debates, voters have seen enough.

Sen. Clinton seems to sense an opening.

"I would love to have a debate here in Indiana so the people of Indiana could see us and make their own minds up," Clinton said in Indianapolis Wednesday. "We've only had four between the two of us."

Sen. Obama belittled the value of a new round of debates during a radio interview, and meeting reporters in southern Indiana, he poked fun at Clinton's latest attempt to rewrite the campaign's rules. She's now counting votes from invalidated elections in Florida and Michigan to claim a lead in popular votes.

"We have simply been playing by the rules throughout this process," Obama said in New Albany, Ind., Wednesday. "We think, if, in the end we end up having twice as many states and having the most votes, then we should end up being the nominee."

Given how hard Clinton will be going after him in the next two weeks -- and she's in such a tough spot she may have no other viable strategy -- Obama will need to demonstrate some toughness of his own and to show once again the kind of broad appeal that gave him landslide victories in Wisconsin, Maryland and Virginia.

Neither he nor Clinton can win enough pledged delegates to wrap up the nomination; superdelegates will make the decision.

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