CNN’s Political Ticker has a story on the first New Hampshire debates. Question: Obama and Clinton haven’t accepted? Aren’t they kind of important?

Every major Republican candidate and every Democratic hopeful aside from Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have accepted an invitation extended by WMUR-TV, the New Hampshire Union Leader and CNN to participate in the presidential debates that are expected to help shape New Hampshire voters’ opinions as they decide whom to back in this wide open presidential race.

Democrats will take the stage at Saint Anselm College on June 3, while Republicans visit the campus on June 5. The debates will be televised statewide on WMUR and nationally on CNN. Extensive coverage will appear in the pages of the Union Leader, UnionLeader.com, CNN, CNN.com, WMUR and WMUR.com, the media companies announced Tuesday. The debates were originally scheduled for the first week in April, but the three media partners decided to move them to the first week of June to help accommodate the candidates’ schedules.

New Hampshire’s most powerful Democratic and Republican lawmakers urged the candidates to participate in the early New Hampshire debates.