Clinton agrees to debate in Cleveland

The MSNBC anchor had apologized for making the offensive statement.

CLEVELAND (AP) — Hillary Rodham Clinton on Wednesday put aside her displeasure over a comment made about Chelsea Clinton, clearing the way for a debate with Barack Obama in Cleveland one week before Ohio’s Democratic presidential primary.

“We have agreed to the MSNBC debate in Ohio,” Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson said during a conference call with reporters.

Wolfson last week said it was unlikely the campaign would continue to engage in debates on the network after MSNBC anchor David Shuster suggested the Clinton campaign had “pimped out” 27-year-old Chelsea by having her place phone calls to superdelegates on her mother’s behalf.

“As many of you know, we have expressed concerns about that network but we do not believe that those concerns should stand in the way of allowing the people of Ohio to see an important debate between the two candidates,” Wolfson said Wednesday. “And so, we will have a debate in Ohio. Senator Clinton is very much looking forward to it.”

Shuster has apologized for the comment and was temporarily suspended from appearing on all NBC news broadcasts except to offer his apology.

Obama spokesman Ben LaBolt said Obama committed to the Cleveland event because of its scope — televised statewide in English and Spanish.

Superdelegates are elected officials and other members of the Democratic National Committee who serve as unpledged convention delegates. They’re expected to play an important role in selecting the nominee if the delegate contest between Clinton and Obama remains close.

Alana Russo, director of communications for MSNBC, said plans for the debate at Cleveland State University were under way.

“As we said last week, we’re pleased the debate is continuing to move forward as planned,” she said.

Cleveland State said a limited number of tickets will be made available to students through a random draw lottery beginning next week. The event will be moderated by NBC’s Brian Williams and Tim Russert, who holds a 1976 law degree from the university’s Cleveland-Marshall College of Law.