Obama eschews debates, favors ads

WASHINGTON, April 26 (UPI) -- Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama's avoidance of future primary debates shows he wants to engage voters rather than discuss policy, observers say.

Since the Illinois senator's last debate with rival Hillary Clinton he has characterized many of the questions as "distractions," and criticized the moderators from ABC News for not asking about the economy until 45 minutes into the program.

Clinton, the New York senator, has called for additional debates ahead of the Democratic presidential convention.

But instead of debating, Obama is focusing on running ads in states yet to hold their nominating contest, a campaign aide said, The Washington Times reported Saturday.

Obama says he sees little value in having another debate before May 6.

"I think the people have a pretty good sense of where Senator Clinton and I stand, and what we"re talking about during the course of these debates."

Rep. G.K. Butterfield, D-N.C., said Obama told him that if he agreed to a North Carolina debate before May 6, he would have to agree to one in Indiana.

Butterfield said Obama told him: "I think I want to take my message to America in a different method."