In response to John McCain’s call earlier today for joint town hall appearances, Barack Obama’s campaign released a statement from campaign manager David Plouffe. “As Barack Obama has said before, the idea of joint town halls is appealing and one that would allow a great conversation to take place about the need to change the direction of this country. We would recommend a format that is less structured and lengthier than the McCain campaign suggests, one that more closely resembles the historic debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas. But, having just secured our party’s nomination, this is one of the many items we will be addressing in the coming days and look forward to discussing it with the McCain campaign.” Presumably, the Obama campaign believes that McCain would wear down in those longer sessions, opening the door for more gaffes. I’m not sure they’re right. But given that both campaigns seem open to these kind of joint appearances they’re likely to happen. I think both campaigns are overconfident. McCain advisers believe that their candidate will have a strong advantage in the coming debates and/or town halls and have briefed supporters to this effect. As they talk about the general election, McCain advisers point to these joint appearances as one of the advantages they will have. The Obama campaign likes the idea of a side-by-side contrast with McCain. I think Obama is better on his feet than many of his critics, but the last several weeks have certainly demonstrated, as Dean Barnett has argued here, that he is prone to gaffes. I doubt anything like a 2008 version of Lincoln-Douglas debates will happen, but it looks like there will be a series of joint appearances of some kind. And while I don’t think they will end up being a clear advantage for McCain, the free public exposure can go some ways in helping him offset the enormous financial advantage Obama will have.
