Todd Spangler, and Kathleen Gray

Detroit Free Press

WASHINGTON — Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign chairman called Saturday for a Democratic debate in Flint to draw attention to the water crisis there.

Hillary for America Campaign Chairman John Podesta called the crisis of high levels of lead being found in residents' tap water "unconscionable" and that government must address it appropriately.

"It’s been going on for years, as the people of Flint repeatedly asked for help and were ignored by state government," Podesta said. "As Hillary has said, this would not have happened in a wealthy community."

EPA: High lead levels in Flint exceed filters' rating

He didn't mention or propose a specific date for the debate. But Podesta noted that the Clinton campaign has already agreed to debate Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in New Hampshire next week ahead of that state's primary and is in talks about other debates.

“We think one of them should be in Flint," said Podesta. "We should use the spotlight of the presidential campaign to keep the focus on Flint, and to lift up the historic underlying issues that Flint and too many other predominantly low-income communities of color across America are struggling with every day."

Little focus on Flint water crisis during GOP debate

"We want their voices to be heard in this campaign, and holding a debate in Flint would go a long way toward achieving that goal," he added.

Sanders' campaign said it would agree to what it said was a previously offered debate March 3 in Michigan ahead of the March 8 primary but only if Clinton's campaign accepts an April 14 debate in Brooklyn, N.Y. The two campaigns have been dickering in recent days over the possibility of adding debates.

"We are pleased to do it on March 3 before the Michigan primary provided the Clinton campaign will agree to Brooklyn, New York, on April 14," said Sanders' campaign manager Jeff Weaver in a news release. "Why won't they debate in Brooklyn? What's the matter with Brooklyn?"

Clinton's request for a debate in Flint comes a day after she said in a radio interview with Flint station WFNT that Gov. Rick Snyder should set aside money in the state's rainy day fund — which has a balance of about $500 million — for a "future fund," which could be used to address health issues from the lead contamination down the road.

"The governor is sitting on a budget surplus and a rainy day fund and if there was every a rainy day, it’s now in Flint," she said.

She also said that investigators should look at officials at all levels of government — local, state and federal — to determine who knew what and when.

"Wherever there may be a person in a position of authority who knew or should have known, we should follow that trail," she said. "When you are dismissive of people’s complaints, that should raise red flags."

Clinton, a former U.S. secretary of state and U.S. senator, has been vocal about the situation in Flint, talking with the city's mayor and saying earlier this month that there is "no excuse for what’s happening."

At a Democratic debate two weeks ago, Clinton said she had spent "a lot of time ... being outraged by what’s happening in Flint."



"We had a city in the United States of America where the population, which is poor in many ways and majority African American, has been drinking and bathing in lead-contaminated water and the governor in that state acted as though he didn’t really care,” Clinton said. “He had a request for help that he basically stonewalled. I’ll tell you what, if the kids in a rich suburb of Detroit had been drinking contaminated water and being bathed in it, there would have been action.”

Sanders, Clinton's top rival for the Democratic nomination, added at that debate that he thought Snyder had acted "irresponsibly" and should resign.



Snyder's communications team responded at that time through his Twitter account, saying "Political statements and finger-pointing from political candidates only distract from solving the Flint water crisis.”

And after the debate news, Snyder said in a statement, "What will help Flint more than a political debate is expanding WIC and Medicaid to cover Flint children," referring to the federal government's denial of a request to expand Women Infants and Children to children up to the age of 10, instead of the normal coverage of kids up to the age of 5.

Contact Todd Spangler: 703-854-8947 or at tspangler@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter at @tsspangler.



