Expectations game already starting for V.P. debate

Barack Obama and John McCain are both stumping in battleground states today, but much of the attention is already focused on the vice presidential debate on Thursday night in St. Louis.

Obama is in Denver for a rally, while McCain and running mate Sarah Palin are in Columbus, Ohio, and will be jointly interviewed on CBS's evening news. That will apparently be the last public event for Palin before the first-term Alaska governor goes to debate camp for intensive preparations.

Given her already-mocked question-and-answer session with Katie Couric of CBS last week, some Republicans fear how she will fare in the unscripted forum of a debate.

UPDATE: Palin answered critics saying she's not ready, saying on CBS tonight that "not only am I ready, I'm willing and able."

Regarding whether a statement she made about going after terrorists in Pakistan contradicted John McCain, she said, "This is all about gotcha journalism."

During their first major TV interview done jointly, McCain defended his running mate, saying that governors are often taken lightly.

"I've seen underestimation before," he said, citing criticism of President Ronald Reagan as a "cowboy" and President Bill Clinton as a small-state governor when they were running.

"She's done an incredible job," he said.

McCain tried to frame Thursday's face-off, telling voters in Columbus, Ohio, this afternoon:

"Sarah has a debate this week against my friend and colleague Joe Biden. He is a good man. But his is not the heart of a reformer, and if there’s one thing every voter I’ve met this year agrees on, it’s the need for big, tough reforms. We need the kind of reform that requires us to ruffle feathers and take on the entrenched special interests. And that’s Governor Palin’s specialty, my friends."

But Obama's campaign is already doing its best to raise expectations for Palin, perhaps to ridiculous extremes. David Wade, spokesman for Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden, told reporters, “He's going in here to debate a leviathan of forensics, who has debated five times and she's undefeated.”

"She's very skilled and she'll be well-prepared,” Obama’s chief strategist David Axelrod told reporters Sunday night as he flew with Biden back to Delaware to help him get ready for the debate.

“As you saw at the convention she can be very good," Axelrod added, according to CNN. "So, I think it would be foolish to assume that this isn’t going to be a really challenging debate. We're preparing for that, on that assumption.”

Palin, herself, said today she was looking forward to the debate.

"I’m looking forward to meeting him, too,’’ she told voters in Columbus, Ohio. “I’ve never met him before, but I’ve been hearing about his Senate speeches since I was in, like, second grade.’’

“I have to admit, though, he’s a great debater, and he looks pretty doggone confident, like he’s sure he’s going to win,’’ she added. “But then again, this is the same Senator Biden who said the other day that University of Delaware would trounce the Ohio State Buckeyes. Wrong!”