New North Carolina Debate Proposed For April 27th

A joint letter from the North Carolina Democratic Party and CBS News to the campaigns of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton proposes a 90-minute debate, to be aired live on April 27th from 8:00pm to 9:30pm. The North Carolina debate would follow CBS' "60 Minutes."

"We hope to make this debate weekend a true learning experience for North Carolinians," the letter from the party states. "The audience would be a mix of your invited guests, North Carolina Democrats, students from our host school or schools and a few debate sponsors." The debate would be moderated by CBS News' Katie Couric and Face the Nation host Bob Schieffer.

More: "The North Carolina Democratic Party is excited about hosting you, your family, and your campaign for our debate with CBS. We hope to give as many North Carolina Democratic and unaffiliated voters as possible the chance to meet you and your families while you are in our state for the debate." [emphasis in the original]

The letter, sent by the party, is signed by North Carolina Democratic chair Jerry Meek and CBS News president Sean McManus. An earlier proposal for a North Carolina debate on April 16th was initially accepted by Obama's campaign.

Update: In a statement this afternoon, the Clinton campaign accepted the invitation: "The Clinton campaign today announced that Senator Hillary Clinton has accepted an invitation to participate in a debate in North Carolina on Sunday, April 27, sponsored by CBS."