Debate Drumming: V.P. edition V.3.0

A blink at what's being said about tomorrow's vice presidential debate...

“Obviously the Vice President has done 15-20 debates in his lifetime—he is an experienced debater—I think this is Paul’s first debate. I may be wrong, he may have done something in high school we don’t know. But, it will be a new experience for Paul, but I am sure he will do fine. Frankly, he has policy, facts, and results on his side. So I think you find in the analysis people make the assessment on these debates not so much on the theatrics or smoothness of the presenter, but the policies and pathways being described.” -- Mitt Romney on CNN yesterday.

"The question here is which Paul Ryan is going to come to the debate later this week. Is it going to be the Paul Ryan who has been misleading about everything from his marathon time to details and specifics he included in his convention speech? Or is it going to be the Paul Ryan who has eagerly embraced voucherizing Medicare and tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires?"-- Obama Campaign Press Secretary Jen Psaki yesterday.

“There's one president. There's one presidential candidate. There’s one person at the top of the ticket. So, the focus again will be on what Governor Romney’s plan is for reforming Washington, what his plan is for … lowering tax rates, reforming the tax code so that we get more job creation. And I think what Congressman Ryan will do will reinforce all those principles, talk about it in bigger, bolder terms about what the two of them hope to do as a team, reforming Washington.”-- Kevin Madden, spokesman for the Romney campaign. [National Journal]

“Joe Biden is as experienced a debater as anyone in national politics, and he has a deep resume in domestic policy and foreign affairs. This is Congressman Ryan’s first time on this big stage, so we’re taking preparation seriously. After the President’s performance last week, we know Joe Biden will coming at us like a cannonball.” -- Brendan Buck, spokesman for Ryan. [BuzzFeed]

"[T]he approach Biden takes at Thursday night’s debate may differ from the way he handled his debate against [Sarah] Palin. In the 2008 vice presidential debate, Biden focused most of his attention on attacking Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain, with only making passing references to Palin. But in this year’s debate, Biden will likely target Ryan, who he says has given more definition to Romney’s campaign, and his programs head on."-- ABC News, paraphrasing an unnamed Biden team "official." [ABC News]

“It was like nailing Jell-O to the wall. He would just change his story as convenient and make up facts to fit what he wanted to say.”-- Marge Krupp, a Democrat who challenged Ryan for his Wisconsin congressional seat in 2008. [The Daily Beast]