Clinton, Sanders considering adding New York debate

NEW YORK, March 30 (UPI) -- Campaign aides to Democratic presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are in off-the-record talks about adding another debate to the schedule ahead of New York's primary April 19.

The talks come as the two campaigns have tussled in recent days over whether there should be a ninth debate between the two Democrats vying for the party's nomination.

The Sanders camp sent a fundraising appeal to its supporters earlier in the week, urging them to sign a petition and donate money to help twist Clinton's arm into another one-on-one nationally broadcast showdown.

Clinton, who holds a significant lead in the delegate count, has sought in recent days to move past the nomination fight and focus her energy on the general election. Sanders, pointing to his three-state sweep on Saturday, has refused calls to wind down his campaign in the face of Clinton's hefty delegate lead.

"Our campaign continues to believe that the people of New York, the largest April primary, deserve to have the debate held in their state, and that it should be held prior to the New York primary," Sanders' campaign manager Jeff Weaver wrote in a letter to his counterpart, Robbie Mook, Clinton's top aide.

Clinton's camp responded publicly, saying they would agree to more debates, but on the condition Sanders promised to tone down his attacks on Clinton.

"They are polling and testing clearly negative attacks in different parts of the state in her home state against Hillary Clinton," Clinton chief strategist Joel Benenson said on a Monday conference call with reporters. "We think that this party is strong when we have a good, strong, healthy debate, but the tone of the campaign has become increasingly negative and personal in some places. They spent a lot of money on radio and TV in some states calling out Secretary Clinton, so I just think we'll cross that when we get to it. We've got campaigns that we have now before we hit New York in full stride, and then any other discussions can take place later."