Do you really, really believe the McCain campaign isn’t already spinning the debate before it happens? MAYBE he’s being a little more subtle than Obama, but you know he’s doing it.
Before the VP debate, the campaign was spinning if Palin just gets a “tie” that’s a win (which the media readily parroted) and they were also downplaying her speaking skills to lower expectations. That’s how the game is played.
Sure, but that's not the issue here.
The issue is which set of talking points the old media chooses to repeat as "news."