Obama Media

Obama’s SCSU Debate Prep

Lynn Sweet details the way in which Team Obama has been readying itself for tonight’s debate at South Carolina State.

He has been wedging practice and study sessions into his schedule for days to prepare for tonight’s debate …He has prepped at the Washington office of Bob Bauer, his campaign lawyer and held at least one other session. He expanded his tight inner circle for the debate to include issue experts plus kitchen-cabinet member Anita Dunn, a Democratic consultant, and Cook County Board member Forrest Claypool, a close friend of chief Obama strategist David Axelrod….he’s sending out a platoon of top staffers from Chicago — Axelrod, campaign manager David Plouffe, spokesmen Robert Gibbs, Bill Burton, Jen Penski and Dan Pfeiffer — to work the “spin” rooms with journalists before and after the 90-minute debate, to be broadcast live on MSNBC starting at 6 p.m. Chicago time….Obama, as a front-runner, may decide to take no risks and just focus on keeping his answers short and clear. “I wish we had more than 60 seconds for each answer,” he lamented.