CNN announced that Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama will debate on the network next week, February 21st. This does alter the likelihood that Clinton could pull out of the MSNBC debate with another debate in the offing so soon. But I still believe she won’t; that it would hurt her more than help her. Given the tightness of the race betweem the two she needs the publicity that a debate would generate.

CNN, Univision Communications Inc. and the Texas Democratic Party in conjunction with the Lyndon B. Johnson Foundation will host a Democratic presidential primary debate on Thursday, Feb. 21. Both Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama have accepted invitations to the debate. The program will air live from the LBJ Auditorium at the University of Texas in Austin on CNN and on CNN International from 8 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. (ET)/7p.m. to 8:30 p.m. (CT) and will air in Spanish on the Univision Network beginning at 11:30 p.m. (ET)/10:30 p.m. (CT). It will also stream live on CNN.com and will later be available on demand on both on Univision.com and CNN.com. It will also re-air on CNN and CNN en Español.

The debate will include questions from both CNN and Univision journalists and will be moderated by a CNN anchor.
This debate is part of both CNN’s and Univision’s extensive and innovative coverage of the 2008 presidential campaign. This follows two historic, first-ever televised presidential forums focused on the issues central to Hispanic voters and broadcast in Spanish on Univision, reaching millions of viewers across the country. It is the ninth presidential primary debate sponsored by CNN this cycle. CNN’s debates in 2007 and 2008 have been among the most-watched in cable news history.

Texas, as the second most populous state in the nation, is ideally suited as the location for a CNN/Univision partnering. According to the Pew Hispanic Center, nearly 25 percent of Texas’ eligible voters, who will go to the polls on Tuesday, March 4, are Hispanic.