Reply #96: Managing expectations is just as important as actually doing well in the debate

[Hippo_Tron]

Bush won in 2000 the debates because people considered anything better than tripping over his own shoelaces on stage to be a good performance for him.

The last thing Obama wants is to walk into the debates with the public expecting McCain to do very poorly. Because even if it's a draw that's still a McCain win with the expectations.