Many commenters on this site seem to feel that the upcoming debates should be a cakewalk for Obama. Please let us not fall into the trap of unreasonable expectations.
With McCain' campaign seemingly on the defensive, many of us on the left are looking to the debates to be the final nail in McCain's coffin. If we have learned nothing else from the primaries, we should remember to set expectation low for our guy, and high for their guy. To wit:
Obama is not an outstanding debater. He is thoughtful to a fault when answering probing questions, and responds to simple questions with an excess of detail. He has not mastered the skill (and at this point it is doubtful he ever will) of condensing his positions into 5-7 second soundbites which the average low-info voter can understand and can be replayed easily on TV news. This is not a deadly fault, but it diffuses his genuine advantage on the issues. He also rarely grounds his rhetoric with real-world examples to how his policies will affect average voters. The republicans are masters at this.
This is not to say that McCain is an awesome debater himself. Clearly he is not. However, if he is adequately prepared, his is capable of scoring big easy points with simple slogans and folksy anecdotes. Saddleback, anyone? We should also not get our hopes up that a frustrated McCain will have a complete meltdown onstage, as entertaining as that might be.
Our guy is right on the issues and will probably come out of the debates winning on points. We should not, however be disappointed if he fails to land a knockout blow.