Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama yesterday urged ABC and WMUR-TV to include fellow candidates in this weekend's televised debate.

ABC and WMUR have established criteria that will likely limit participation to four or five candidates in the Republican and Democratic debates airing Saturday night.

In a statement released yesterday, Clinton said: "I believe in the true spirit of the New Hampshire process; the candidates who have participated in past debates should not be excluded from this one."

Obama expressed similar views.

"The voters of New Hampshire deserve to hear all the Democratic candidates' views on who can best lead America in a fundamentally new direction, and that's why I urge these networks to allow full participation in this week's debate," Obama said in a statement.

But in an interview with UnionLeader.com, John Edwards said he is staying out of the issue.

"I don't get to set the rules for the debates. I'll let the people who are in charge of the debates set the rules. And I'll be there," Edwards said.

Also, the campaign of Republican candidate John McCain said it was not its place to comment on the limitations.

"It's up to the networks and the sponsors to figure that out," said political director Mike Dennehy.

In order to participate in the ABC-WMUR event, a candidate must place in the top four slots in the Iowa caucuses or poll 5 percent or higher in recent surveys of voters in New Hampshire or the country as a whole.

►Debates: Who's in, who's out, who's mad (31)

WMUR News Director Andrew Vrees has said fewer candidates mean more time to address issues.

Historically, candidates with low polling numbers a week before election day usually don't do much better on election day, Vrees has said.

Given the criteria, Democrats Dennis Kucinich, Joe Biden, Chris Dodd and Mike Gravel could end up off the stage.

Kucinich, who is not campaigning in Iowa this week, said the results of the Iowa caucuses should not factor into who debates in New Hampshire. "The people in New Hampshire have a right to make a choice," the Ohio congressman said. "ABC should not be in the position of screening the candidates and determining who the next President should be, especially since they're regulated by the federal government."

ABC and WMUR will produce the back-to-back GOP and Democratic debates Saturday beginning at 7 p.m. at St. Anselm College.

Fox News, which is sponsoring a Republican forum the following night, has invited only five Republicans. Ron Paul and Duncan Hunter have not received invitations.

The limitations have prompted criticisms by the chairmen of the Democratic and Republican parties in New Hampshire.

In a posting on a liberal Democratic blog, former New Hampshire Democratic party chairman Kathy Sullivan urged anyone upset by the debate's format to call WMUR and complain. Sullivan is a key Clinton supporter.