Clinton Agrees to Participate in CBS Debate

Senator Hillary Clinton has agreed to a CBS debate on Sunday, April 27, in North Carolina. If Senator Barack Obama agrees to debate Clinton, it would be "CBS Evening News" anchor Katie Couric's first time moderating a presidential debate.

The fate of the debate lies on the shoulders of Obama, who previously accepted CBS's offer of a debate April 19.

"We're very optimistic that he'll accept," said Jerry Meek, chairman of the North Carolina Democratic Party. The state party intervened to help CBS after the earlier proposal for April 19 was rejected because it was the first day of Passover.

Originally, a debate scheduled for December, to take place in Los Angeles, was canceled because of the writers' strike. After this, CBS continued to make a major effort to secure the debate.

This was in part to get ratings, and in part to raise the profile of its news anchor, Couric. Her rivals at NBC, Brian Williams, and ABC, Charles Gibson, have moderated public debates and seem to have more credibility among their audiences.

In relation to CBS's problem, ABC's Gibson will host the next Democratic debate before the Pennsylvania primary on April 16.