Remember when the Repubs. said Obama's scared to debate McCain since there won't be a teleprompter?

[jenmito]

Now they're saying he should do very well tonight because he's an incredible orator. :eyes:

[Lucky 13]

1. They were just projecting...

Obama does great unscripted... McCain... not so much...

[jenmito]

2. It's just funny to see them spinning, playing the expectations game.

So phony.

[whoneedstickets]

3. Its all about setting expectations...

...they discovered during Kerry-Bush 04 that the could make it so the absolute level of ability displayed by each candidate and compared to the other was irrelevant IF instead we were focused on the relative performance of the candidate compared to the expectations going in. Bush didn't beat Kerry but Kerry was billed as the 'expert debater' while Bush was a stooge. When Kerry didn't blow him out of the water it was deemed a Bush victory (Kerry underperformed)

They are trying to set up Obama as the presumptive favorite so that they can claim victory when McLame only loses by a bit...

[lamp_shade]

4. The media isn't. All I've been hearing from the media is....

that McCain should do well/very well since this is his strong point... that Obama is the underdog with this topic. I'm glad they're doing this and I think it's intentional. I can't wait til tonight.

[truthisfreedom]

5. I saw him speak in Minneapolis, and he didn't have a propter. He spoke entirely from memory,

and he was impeccable.

[applegrove]

6. They are trying to raise expectations on Obama so that if he does okay it will seem like

he did worse. Personally I don't think debates are Obama's strongest suit. During the democratic nomination race he didn't win all the time during debates. But he is on the right side of the issues so he should do fine tonight.

Don't fall for that build-up of expectations on Obama. That is a GOP trick.