First debate jitters? Obama, Romney camps maneuver for advantage (+video)

Not surprisingly, White House senior adviser David Plouffe plays up Romney’s debating skills.

“He’s prepared more than any candidate I think maybe in history, certainly in recent memory. He’s been a good debater in the past. He’s very prepared. He’s got all these clever zingers and lines in his pocket, so we understand he’ll probably have a good night on Wednesday night.” Mr. Plouffe said on ABC's "This Week."

On NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Plouffe tossed a little taunt at his Republican rivals: “It’s important to understand: the election is happening right now. People started voting in Iowa this week. They will in Ohio next week. People are requesting absentee ballots. We like what we’re seeing in those numbers.”

Will Wednesday’s debate and the subsequent encounters make much difference to the outcome?

“They sometimes have a short-term effect, a bounce in response to the debates, but at the end of the day there often is not much of an effect,” Robert Erikson, author of “The Timeline of Presidential Elections,” told the Daily Beast.

The Gallup polling organization found that in just two elections since the advent of televised debates was the outcome impacted in a perceptible way: The debate between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon in 1960 and a debate between Al Gore and George W. Bush in 2000.

On one thing, everybody agrees: Moderator Jim Lehrer of PBS is uniquely qualified to be a fair inquisitor.

“Jim’s reputation is unassailable. He reeks integrity,” Tom Brokaw, the veteran “NBC Nightly News” anchor, told Politico. “He knows that his role there is to make this about the two candidates, not about him.”

“Jim is the best person for the job, the straightest guy in this profession, and absolutely trustworthy,” said Robert MacNeil, Lehrer’s longtime co-host on the “MacNeil/Lehrer Report.” “His idea of fairness is fiercer than anyone’s – he has an almost religious respect for being fair. He stays so far out of the political swamps that he doesn’t even vote.”

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