Debates determine Super Pac spending? We've heard a lot of bickering on the campaign trail, and there's plenty of talk that zingers could decide who wins or loses the showdown in Denver. But to most Americans, this debate is really about which candidate has the composure and stature to serve in the Oval Office.
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"If either the president or Romney can't pass this test, the rest really don't matter. Big ideas from a small person won't make you president of the United States," says Republican strategist and CNN contributor Alex Castellanos. "When the moment comes, this is like proposing to your wife. This is a big moment."
Thanks to already serving nearly four years in the White House, Obama starts with the advantage, but he can't afford to play it safe at the debate.
John King: The debates are all about trust
"Playing it safe allows Romney to dominate the agenda and put Obama on defense. Either you're on offense or defense, and defense loses," adds Castellanos, who was a senior adviser to Romney in 2008 election.
By comparison, Romney has to do double duty: Stay on offense but also look presidential.
What does Obama have to do?
"Keep cool -- which comes naturally to him," says Democratic strategist and CNN contributor Paul Begala. "Make it about the middle class, not himself or Romney."
2. Can Romney get Libya into the discussion?
The first debate is officially devoted to domestic policy.
The listed topics, according to the Commission on Presidential Debates, are the economy, health care, the role of government and governing -- whatever that means.
Matters of national security and foreign policy are being left to later debates, but Romney may not be content to wait that long with the drip-drip-drip of conflicting news continuing to emerge from Libya, where four Americans -- including U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens -- were killed in an apparent terrorist attack last month.
Serious questions have been raised for the Obama administration in the wake of the Libya attack: Was the American compound in Benghazi secure before the attack? Did U.S. officials fail to heed warnings or concerns about possible violence? Why has the president been so hesitant to describe the incident as a "terrorist attack"? Why is the scene still not secure, more than two weeks after the attack?
House GOP wants State Dept. to answer for Libya security
"We've seen a confused, slow, inconsistent response to what is now very clearly known as a terrorist act," Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan said on Monday. "It's really indicative of a broader failure of this administration's foreign policy and the crisis that is taking place across the Middle East."
Polls indicate that the economy remains the top issue for voters, and Romney advisers in Boston believe the same. And when it comes to foreign policy, more voters trust Obama than Romney, polls show.
But there are hints of vulnerability for the president on Libya crisis. In a recent Fox News poll, 43% of voters said they disapproved of Obama's performance on Libya, while 39% approved.
With his campaign scrambling for traction and looking for any opportunity to shrink the trust gap between himself and the president, it won't be a shocker if Romney brings up the Middle East turmoil on Wednesday night and ties it to a broader critique of the president's leadership.
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3. Who makes the case on the economy?
In a debate focusing on domestic concerns, the economy is the issue that should dominate the debate. The economy remains the top issue on the minds of American voters and according to a new CNN/ORC International poll, likely voters are split on whether the president or the Republican nominee would do a better job fixing the economy over the next four years.
Expect to hear two very different narratives on Wednesday night. The president will continue to argue that the country's making progress and that now is not the time to go back to the policies of the George W. Bush years that got us into the current mess. And he'll say that now's not the time to go back to helping the millionaires and Wall Street.
Expect a very different narrative from Romney.
In his year and a half long bid for the White House, one of the former Massachusetts governor's main arguments is that thanks to his business background, he can do a better job creating jobs than Obama has done over the past four years. The debate in Denver gives Romney a well-watched platform to make his case.
Romney: Debates aren't about a win
Romney "has to explain a rationale that he's offering change that would make things better over the next four years," says Castellanos. "This is his opportunity to present his counternarrative, that Obama's growing the wrong economy. He need say that Washington's economy is doing just fine, and ask how your economy's doing."
Whichever candidate better presents and sells his economic narrative will go a long way toward determining who wins the debate, and more importantly, who wins the minds of undecided voters.
4. Can Obama get women and Latinos into the discussion?
Romney carved out positions during the Republican primaries that have landed him in a deep hole with Hispanic and female voters.
Remember the so-called "war on women"? In the course of trying to out-conservative his GOP rivals, Romney vowed to end federal funding for Planned Parenthood, came out against a law that mandates insurance companies cover contraception services and did not take a stand on the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act that Obama signed in 2009. He has also said he wants the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Romney also rankled Hispanics by calling elements of Arizona's tough immigration law a "model" for the nation, floating the notion of "self-deportation" and promising to veto the DREAM Act, which would offer a path to citizenship for young illegal immigrants.
Latino vote in Nevada up for grabs
The Obama campaign has exploited these positions to great effect, pushing them to women and Hispanics in swing state campaign appearances, targeted e-mails and niche media efforts. (Don't know who Cristina Saralegui is? Google her.)
Republicans have criticized those tactics as a cynical distraction from the sagging economy, but they're working.
A Quinnipiac poll of Ohio likely voters released last week, for instance, showed Romney losing women to Obama by a staggering 25-point margin.
Internal Romney polling, meanwhile, has him badly trailing Obama among Hispanics -- and it's been that way all year.
With more than 50 million people expected to tune in Wednesday evening, don't expect the president to pass up a golden opportunity to keep female and Hispanic-oriented issues in the national spotlight.
In debates, presidential candidates' tics and tells matter
5. Taking the zing out of zingers
It was just one line in a New York Times story last weekend about each candidate's debate cram sessions, but it grabbed a lot of attention.
"Mr. Romney's team has concluded that debates are about creating moments and has equipped him with a series of zingers that he has memorized and has been practicing on aides since August," reporters Ashley Parker and Peter Baker wrote in the paper.
Obama: 'They're making me do my homework'
Romney advisers are correct that voters are likely to walk away from the debate talking about distinctive moments -- audible sighs, body language, repeated use of phrases such as "lock box" -- rather than factoids about Medicare Advantage or sequestration.
But zingers?
The Obama team predictably pounced on that one.
iReporters square off before the debate
"We also saw in reports that Mitt Romney and his team have been working on zingers and special lines for months," Obama spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki told reporters over the weekend. "That's not what the president's focus is on. So if you're expecting that, that's probably not what he's going to deliver on."
Romney delivered his lines with precision during the Republican primary debates and probably will again on Wednesday.
But if it comes to pass that Romney jabs at Obama with a sharp attack or humorous quip, you can be sure the president's allies will be ready to mock Romney's reliance on prepared "zingers" to diminish his stature and performance.
New national poll shows close race
Complete coverage: CNN Fact Check
University of Denver student Sam Garry sits at the moderator's desk before a presidential debate dress rehearsal at the University of Denver on Tuesday, October 2. On Wednesday, President Obama and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney will face off in the first presidential debate. 
Volunteers sit in for on-air television reporters on Tuesday in preparation for the first presidential debate in the Ritchie Center at the University of Denver. 
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney greets a father and his daughter after having lunch Tuesday at a restaurant in Denver. 
President Obama stares at the Hoover Dam in Nevada during a visit Tuesday. 
Mitt Romney boards his campaign plane in Bedford, Massachusetts, on Monday, October 1. Romney is heading to Denver for the first presidential debate on Wednesday. 
President Barack Obama hugs Chasstiry Vazquez after she indroduced him at a campaign event at Desert Pines High School in Las Vegas on Sunday, September 30. 
Obama supporters cheer during Sunday's event in Las Vegas. 
Romney leaves his campaign headquarters in Boston on Sunday. 
A boy reaches out to shake hands with Obama on Sunday in Las Vegas. The president was in Nevada ahead of Wednesday's presidential debate in Denver. 
Romney arrives at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Belmont to attend Sunday services. 
Obama talks on the phone with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel in the Oval Office on Friday, September 28. 
Romney speaks during a rally at Valley Forge Military Academy and College in Pennsylvania on Friday. 
Romney talks to journalists aboard his campaign plane about his phone call with Netanyahu on Friday. 
Cadets listen to Romney speak at a campaign rally Friday at the Valley Forge Military Academy and College in Wayne, Pennsylvania. 
Romney addresses Friday's rally at the Valley Forge Military Academy and College. 
Vice President Joe Biden hugs U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, as he arrives for a campaign event Friday in Boca Raton, Florida. 
Romney speaks at a Veterans for Romney campaign event in Springfield, Virginia, on Thursday, September 27. 
Obama supporters cheer at a campaign rally Thursday in Virginia Beach, Virginia. 
Veterans at the American Legion Post 176 pray before Romney speaks Thursday in Springfield. 
People listen to Obama speak at the Farm Bureau Live arena in Virginia Beach on Thursday. 
Obama delivers remarks Thursday in Virginia Beach. 
Supporters cheer as Romney speaks at SeaGate Convention Centre in Toledo, Ohio, on Wednesday, September 26. 
Romney speaks during a roundtable discussion on manufacturing at American Spring Wire in Bedford Heights, Ohio, on Wednesday. 
Supporters wait to see Obama on Wednesday at Toledo Express Airport in Bowling Green, Ohio. Air For One aborted an initial landing attempt in Ohio due to weather conditions. 
Obama addresses supporters at Bowling Green State University on Wednesday. 
Romney delivers remarks during a campaign rally Wednesday at Westerville South High School in Westerville, Ohio. 
Former President Bill Clinton introduces Obama during the Clinton Global Initiative annual meeting in New York on Tuesday, September 25. 
Supporters cheer during a Republican campaign rally Tuesday with Romney and his running mate, Paul Ryan, at Dayton International Airport in Vandalia, Ohio. 
Ryan speaks Tuesday in Vandalia as Sen. Rand Paul, from left, Sen. Rob Portman and Romney listen. 
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush hugs a waitress as they wait for Ryan's arrival during a campaign stop at a restaurant in Miami's Little Havana neighborhood on Saturday, September 22. 
Supporters cheer as they listen to Romney speak during a Juntos Con Romney Rally at the Darwin Fuchs Pavilion on Wednesday, September 19, in Miami. 
Romney shakes hands with supporters during the Juntos Con Romney Rally in Miami on Wednesday. 
Obama and David Letterman speak during a break in the taping of the "Late Show with David Letterman" on Tuesday, September 18, at the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York. 
A crew member opens the door to Air Force One after the jet arrived at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York on Tuesday. 
From left to right: Romney, his wife Ann, and son Tagg watch one of Tagg's sons play soccer in Belmont, Massachusetts, on Saturday, September 15. 
Ryan arrives onstage to address the Family Research Council Action Values Voter Summit on Friday, September 14. 
Supporters wait for Romney to speak at a campaign rally at Lake Erie College in Painesville, Ohio, on Friday, September 14. 
Obama arrives at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland on Thursday, September 13. Obama returned to Washington after a two-day campaign trip with events in Nevada and Colorado. 
Supporters cheer as Romney speaks at a campaign rally in Fairfax, Virginia, on Thursday. 
An Obama supporter attends a rally in Las Vegas on Wednesday, September 12. Obama focused on economic policies during his two days of campaigning in Nevada and Colorado. 
Former President Bill Clinton speaks in support of Obama during a campaign stop in Miami on Tuesday, September 11. 
Obama is lifted up by Scott Van Duzer, owner of Big Apple Pizza and Pasta Italian Restaurant, during a visit to the restaurant in Fort Pierce, Florida, on Sunday, September 9. Obama was on a two-day bus tour across the state. 
President Obama greets supporters during a campaign stop at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Sunday. 
Mitt Romney walks through the garage area during a rain delay before the start of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Federated Auto Parts 400 at Richmond International Raceway on Saturday, September 8, in Richmond, Virginia. 
Ann Romney, wife of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, waves to the crowd before speaking at a rally in Leesburg, Virginia, on Friday, September 7. 
Supporters try to stay dry in between rain showers while waiting for President Obama to speak at the University of Iowa on Friday. It was Obama's first day of campaigning after accepting the presidential nomination at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina. 
A girl listens to President Obama speak at the University of Iowa on Friday. 
Vice President Joe Biden, first lady Michelle Obama, President Obama and Biden's wife, Jill, wave after Friday's campaign event at the University of Iowa. 
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