By: Politico

With no clear winner in the first debate and major financial issues in the oven, both Barack Obama and John McCain want to distinguish themselves in the Belmont debate. August’s Saddleback Forum with Rick Warren may serve as a decent model for the debate. Obama will probably lean more toward intellectual, pragmatic responses that could be short on decisiveness, McCain more toward anecdotal, witty responses with forceful answers that can be a little too strong for some. For each big issue, we’ve provided the Rasmussen tracking for how each candidate is polling with voters as of Sept. 24, 2008.

Format
McCain spent half the summer trying to get Obama to participate in town hall forums around the country and operates a lot of his campaign events in the question and answer format; Obama tends to prefer speeches and is more suited to the traditional format.
Advantage: McCain

Location
While Tennessee is in the heartland of the conservative South, Davidson County went blue in 2004, and the debate will feature questions from between 80 and 120 legitimately undecided voters chosen by the Gallup Group from Davidson and surrounding counties.
Advantage: Draw

The Big Three

Health Care
Next to McCain’s vague $5,000 health care credit, Obama’s more nuanced plan for universal health care sounds more substantial, particularly to an undecided voter.
Advantage: Obama

Economy
Even though McCain polls better on taxes and led efforts on the bailout, his policies are tied too closely to those of George W. Bush’s and the past few months to make much headway with voters. Some of Obama’s more populist rhetoric — like the distribution of Big Oil’s windfall profits — will resonate with voters.
Advantage: Obama

Foreign Policy
McCain’s foreign policy knowledge and national security strengths cannot be underestimated or matched by Obama, but given the recent state of the American economy and the debate’s town hall format, foreign policy will likely see less play this week.
Advantage: McCain

Three Nashville Issues That Matter

Gas Shortage
We still don’t have enough gas, and we can’t steal Brentwood’s. Energy is Obama’s weakest issue, with huge taxpayer investment in alternative energy. Look for McCain to reiterate his "All of the Above" policy.
Advantage: McCain

"English First"
The Nashville ballot initiative to limit government and many business operations to only English is a no-win situation for McCain. He’s called McAmnesty by the right, but Obama polls better with Latino voters. Watch for both to reject "English First."
Advantage: Obama

The Bailout
Half of Tennessee’s representatives voted no on the original bailout — only one switched for the passed bailout. McCain and Obama voted for the bailout (McCain led the charge for it even), and both promise more regulation.
Advantage: Draw

Overall
Who won the Ole Miss debate was largely predicated on one’s political bias; the town hall style plays to McCain’s strengths, but with Obama leading on almost every major issue and with the continued decline of the economy, external factors may negate any victories McCain has Tuesday night.
Advantage: McCain

Katherine Miller reports for Vanderbilt University’s Inside Vandy. Inside Vandy is partnering with Campus Politico for the 2008 elections.

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