Too Late for Limbo?

In a postmodern campaign, you don’t wait for an event to end before starting the spin. Here’s how Team Obama is trying to lower the bar:

The Obama campaign distributed a memo this afternoon titled “Home-field advantage: John McCain.” Though the debate’s moderator Jim Lehrer is quite likely to dip into questions about the economy, the night’s focus is foreign policy, which the Obama campaign calls “McCain’s professed area of expertise.”

“If he slips up, makes a mistake, or fails to deliver a game-changing performance, it will be a serious blow to his campaign,” according to the memo. “Given his unsteady performance this week, he desperately needs to win this debate in a big way in order to change the topic and get back to his home turf.”

The memo goes on to footnote more than half a dozen media clips that the Obama campaign says tout Mr. McCain’s prowess as a debater as well as several more articles under the bold-faced heading “Debates are not a good format for Obama.”