She wouldn't debate on Fox News before her nomination was considered inevitable.

However, now that the supposed heir to the throne, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY), is in the fight for her political life with Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill), FNC doesn't look so bad.

Maybe Hillary thinks there are a lot more conservatives like Ann Coulter that will support her if Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) wins the GOP nomination.

Regardless of her reasons, the junior senator, according to Fox News, has accepted an invitation to debate Obama on the supposedly conservative cable network (emphasis added):

Clinton communications director Howard Wolfson just announced that the campaign has accepted a Fox News invitation for a one-on-one debate with Barack Obama in Washington DC on February 11 — the day before the so-called Potomac Primary featuring DC, Virginia, and Maryland. The debate would also air locally on the DC Fox affiliate WTTG.

[...]

Wolfson said the party has been clamoring for more head-to-head debates between the two candidates left standing; “voters ought to have the opportunity to see these two candidates compete against each other in a one-on-one setting.”

And he disputed one reporter’s observation that the candidate calling for debates is usually the candidate who’s in trouble — saying that usually happens with a candidate with low name recognition, a problem Sen Clinton obviously doesn’t have.

Wolfson can dispute all he wants, but is there any way to take this announcement other than Hillary must be scared? After all, in a two "man" race, only the person trailing the pack wants more debates.

Sam Stein elaborated at the Huffington Post (emphasis added):

Risking the ire of progressive activists, Sen. Hillary Clinton's campaign announced that it has accepted a debate to air on Fox News on February 11, according to her chief strategist Mark Penn.

[...]

Though Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama have frequently appeared on Fox News for interviews, Clinton may be debating alone. Bill Burton, a spokesman for Obama, said that no plans existed as of now for his boss to participate in upcoming forums.

Frankly, I'd love to see Hillary debate herself, for it would be interesting to see which persona cries first. But I digress:

During a campaign conference call on Tuesday, Wolfson defended the campaign's decision to accept the Fox News debate, citing the reach the network had in the Chesapeake area (the debate will be held in Washington D.C.) and prior appearances by both Clinton and Obama on station.

"Given that Senator Obama had been on the network, we've been on the network, and that the offer is a good one for this debate in terms of this upcoming primary, it made sense to accept it," he said.

Makes one wonder why Hillary and Company weren't acting so rationally a few months back when they supported the Fox News boycott.

What a difference a close race makes, huh?

—Noel Sheppard is the Associate Editor of NewsBusters. Follow him at Facebook and Twitter.