debate spin

I've been saving this up-- from Paul Bedard in U.S. News & World Report...

The conventions are over, and the presidential candidates are still close in the polls. So, naturally, all eyes are on the first debate between Sen. John McCain and Sen. Barack Obama on September 26, where voters and pundits expect one of the two to break out. "They are going to decide in the first debate" whom to vote for, predicts pollster-strategist Frank Luntz. With that kind of hype hanging over the event in Oxford, Miss., the candidates are already starting to lower expectations. First, McCain. Aides say that he won't be as eloquent as Obama. Obama's team, meanwhile, suggests that he's not as practiced at debates as his long-serving Senate colleague. "These debates are not Senator Obama's strong suit," says one aide.

I think the key question will be the extent to which Obama connects with people-- beyond pleasant-sounding answers.

And after pushing the line that McCain is old and decrepit, Dems are (or should be) stuck with higher expectations for their man.

Tbe more obvious point is that Obama's reputation as a speaker must increase expectations of his performance. But delivering a speech is not the same thing as a debate.

Should be interesting!