Candidates Make Final Preparations for Debate 9ET USA

Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain and his wife leave the Ford Center after previewing the debate's location.

First Presidential Debate: What To Watch For

The first presidential debate is finally here and the candidates have likely completed their preparations. Here's what we'll be watching for in tonight's main event.

The debate that almost wasn't is now back on track for 9 p.m. ET tonight at the University of Mississippi in Oxford. John McCain and Barack Obama are on the ground in the Magnolia State -- home to the legendary Burns Strider -- and making their last minute preparations for what is almost certainly the most important moment in the general election to date.

What should you watch for in the 90 minute battle tonight? The Fix spoke with a variety of Democratic and Republican sources to get their viewer's guide to the festivities. Their thoughts -- plus a few of our own -- are below.

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• Temperament: Tone matters in presidential debates -- especially in the general election. Voters don't like seeing the two men competing to lead the country engage in a series of shouting matches. McCain has shown in his political life -- and occasionally in the primary debate -- a tendency to lose his cool a bit, to allow himself to be bated into a nasty exchange when staying above the fray is required. Expect Obama to bait McCain early in tonight's debate in hopes of eliciting an angry -- and impolitic -- answer. Obama, too, has had temperament issues during the primary debates; he was often too cool, too removed from personal side of issues like the economy, health care and the war in Iraq. Obama tonight has to find a happy medium between the coolness that evokes unflattering comparisons to Adlai Stevenson and the heat that does not come naturally to him.

• Foreign or Domestic: The more this supposed foreign-policy themed debate is focused on the economic crisis currently roiling Wall Street, the better for Obama. McCain has been playing defense on the issue for the last week or so and his inability to close a deal (or make a deal in the first place) during his trip to Washington makes him look even more vulnerable on the issue. Expect both candidates to channel former senator John Edwards's populist economic message, each touting himself as the person best equipped to fight for the little guy against the big corporation. Neither man is a natural populist, however, so each must be careful not to be seen as trying to pander for votes. The only thing voters dislike more than someone who disagrees with them is someone who they feel is just saying what they want to hear.

• Obama and the Surge: The biggest potential pitfall for the Democratic nominee in this foreign policy debate is the contradiction between his initial opposition to the surge in Iraq and his statement earlier this month to Bill O'Reilly that the surge had "succeeded beyond our wildest dreams." For Obama, the most dangerous thing in this campaign are situations in which he appears to be doing the political thing; at the core of Obama's brand is this idea of the Illinois senator as an anti-politician -- the more he hems and haws to explain his contradictory statements, the more potential damage he does to that brand.

• McCain and Iraq: The issue of Iraq has taken a backburner for nearly the entire primary and general election campaign to date, a positive development for McCain whose positioning on the issue is out of step with many Americans. McCain has been able to cast his continued support for the war -- and his early advocacy for the troop surge -- as a sign of his willingness to put what's right ahead of what's political. But, neither Obama nor moderator Jim Lehrer is likely to allow McCain to simply dismiss his break with the American public on the issue as a testament to his own patriotism. McCain must find a way to quickly and effectively deal with the issue of his initial and ongoing support for the conflict and pivot to more comfortable ground for him -- like the surge.

• Insider vs. Outsider: In an election year in which nearly three quarters of voters disapprove of the job Congress is doing, it's in both candidates' interest to paint themselves as outsiders to the political process. That case is easy for Obama to make since he has spent a relatively short period of time in the nation's capital. But, judging from a memo McCain's campaign sent out earlier today -- dismissing the inability to agree on a bailout package as a "familiar spectacle" -- you can bet that he isn't prepared to cede the outsider image to Obama. Our guess? McCain will use his lack of popularity in Washington ("I wasn't voted Mr. Congeniality...") and his decision to pick Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate as evidence of his commitment to "outsider" principles.