CNN: Sanders campaign grumbled over debate format changes
A call with all three Democratic campaigns, CBS and members of the Democratic National Committee about how to address the terrorist attacks in Paris quickly turned contentious Saturday over those specific changes.
An aide to Bernie Sanders "threw a fit" when CBS informed the campaigns in a conference call Saturday that the Democratic debate would kick off with a focus on the attacks in Paris, a person who was on the call told CNN.
"Once CBS informed the campaigns the debate was going to kick off with a focus on the attacks in Paris last night, he (Mark Longabaugh, a Sanders strategist) completely lost it. He threw a fit for several minutes," the source said.
But a DNC debate coordinator tells CNN that the argument on the call earlier Saturday was not about whether the debate would focus on Paris, adding that it is unfair to say Sanders' campaign did not want to debate foreign policy.
"What happened was that we have had the format of the debate finalized for several weeks," the coordinator said. "CBS wanted to get rid of the opening statements and start with a 30-second answer on Paris," the coordinator said. "It was never a conversation of whether we talk about foreign policy or not. They just wanted a longer opening comment."
But according to the source on the call, Longabaugh argued that "this wasn't part of the deal. It shouldn't be allowed. It wasn't advertised as a foreign policy debate and it's turning into a debate it wasn't supposed to be."
http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/14/politics/paris-terror-attacks-bernie-sanders-democratic-debate/index.html
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