[cured]

The 2004 election wasn't really decided on the debates. Most people knew which side of the fence they were on. What got conservatives riled up was Bush's promise to put attention on the amendment to ban gay marriage. This single issue got a lot of conservative voters to the polls; those same conservative voters felt betrayed when nothing happened and threatened to stay home in the last election cycle, which a lot of them did.

The reason why I feel Obama will emerge from the debates ahead of McCain isn't simply he's the better speaker but the issue of inexperience won't be on display as much as a discussion on the problems and solutions will. Although Obama and McCain both will accuse each other of flip-flopping, McCain has ahad a real problem getting facts straight over the past few months and, if he isn't sharp when the debates start, simple, lowest common denominator logic won't fly.