Jackson Falconer
The possibility of a pre-convention presidential debate between a Republican and a Democrat was given affirmative interest by two candidates on Thursday, though it appears that Hillary Clinton wouldn't be invited.
Instead, Dem candidate and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders would debate presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump in California, where Sanders and Clinton are currently in locked into a contentious battle for the state's June 7 primary and its 548 delegates.
While the idea is still just an idea at this point, such a debate could give added life to Sanders' still-exuberant campaign. Despite trailing behind Clinton, the Sanders campaign has seen success in several of the last state primary contests.
And it would give voters the chance to see an event with little possibility of reoccurring after each major party convention: two presidential hopefuls, frequently at odds with party establishments that never wanted their candidacies, having a nationally-televised debate that would all but guarantee the ratings of a major sporting championship.
Though a Trump aide attempted to swat the idea away on Thursday by suggesting his boss was joking about such a debate, the business magnate pressed on with the idea soon after. "I'd love to debate Bernie; he's a dream," said Trump at a press conference in North Dakota.
Former Secretary of State Clinton has an all-but-insurmountable lead in the path to July's Democratic convention, but Sanders has continued to run for the party's nomination.
The Senator's campaign has said it believes it can still persuade Clinton's lion's share of superdelegates to break support of her and join him. The campaign also wants to use Sanders' significant support among Dem voters as leverage to influence the party's written platform at the convention.
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