Inför kvällens debatt

av Martin Gelin

George Stephanopolous funderar på vad McCain ska hitta på ikväll:
”Can he pledge to serve only one term? Can he challenge Barack Obama to more debates? Can he announce a bipartisan cabinet? Those are all conceivable long balls. But there’s not a whole lot he can do, at this point, to change the dynamic in one debate.”

Carrie Budoff Brown och Jonathan Martin på Politico skriver att McCains uppgift ikväll är att knäcka Obamas disciplinerade, samlade image.

Sullivan om förväntningarna inför kvällen, och de tre veckor som återstår:
”My general expectation is that polls tighten from now on. A decent performance from McCain tonight, independent qualms about one-party government, some stabilization in stocks: this should help the GOP.
But I’m also prepared to entertain a new scenario. As McCain declines, the angry, bitter rump of his party gets to define him more and more. Sane Republicans flee the Palin asylum, base Republicans demand even more anger, the actual economy worsens on the ground in the next three weeks … and a bandwagon effect begins to help Obama.”

David Axelrod säger att vi kan räkna med ”John McCain version 7.0” ikväll.