Campaign 2008From The Trail
NBC/National Journal embed reporters file regular dispatches on their experiences from the trail.

Previously in this series:
• Lots Of Talk, Few Answers On The Economy (09/29/08)
• For Palin At U.N., The Image Of Access (09/24/08)
• Flexible 'Fundamentals At Root Of McCain's Message (09/23/08)

Read The Entire Series

WILMINGTON, Del. -- During his first two weeks on the campaign trail, Joe Biden faced one question over and over from voters: How would he debate Sarah Palin?

"Will you take off the kid gloves just like you would with anybody else?" asked a supporter in Philadelphia. "Would you please promise us that you will go at her the same way" you would a man?, asked another in Virginia Beach.

Biden generally did his best to deflect the question, but when he did give a direct answer, he treaded carefully.

"The answer is one word: with respect," he said in Sarasota, Fla., when asked how he would approach the debate. "I walk in with respecting her significant accomplishment, and we'll make our differences known, and that's what we'll debate."

Biden also made a point of mentioning that he's debated a number of strong women in the U.S. Senate in addition to facing off with Hillary Rodham Clinton during more than a dozen primary debates last year.

But Thursday night will be different: Biden won't be standing in the well of the Senate, but on a stage in St. Louis with a woman who last month compared herself to a pitbull. And unlike the sometimes unwieldy primary debates, there will be only two candidates this time around, and Biden will most assuredly face more questions and more direct jabs from his opponent.

Much is at stake for both participants, and Biden has been hunkering down this week with some of the campaign's top advisers for several days of serious debate preparations. Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D) joined him on the flight to Wilmington Sunday to serve as his sparring partner in mock debates.

Up until now, advisers say Biden's preparation has consisted mostly of reading up on both John McCain's and Palin's positions. Preparations for the vice presidential debates can be more difficult, according to strategist David Axelrod, because as the second banana, there is more ground to cover.

"You've got to think about your own record, the candidate's record and your opponent's record," he said Sunday. "This is primarily going to be a debate about where the principals, the presidential candidates, want to take the country, but there's more to... keep track of."

And while voters will get their first serious look at how both vice presidential nominees react under pressure, strategists in both parties say that what happens on Thursday may reflect more on the presidential candidates.

"Picking the VP is really the candidate's first major decision, and it allows the voters to understand his decision-making process," said Republican strategist Scott Reed. "It says more about them than anything -- how they think, how they envision their governing," said former Clinton Commerce Secretary Bill Daley.

Barack Obama's campaign in particular hopes that is the case this week.

"There are very few decisions that you make during the course of a presidential campaign that are presidential decisions," Axelrod said. "Picking the vice presidential candidate is one, and all I can say is that, you know, we're very happy with our choice. We think that Obama's decision was the right one with Biden."

Thursday night will ultimately be the best opportunity for the Delaware senator to show that is, in fact, the case. But if he makes a serious gaffe, or is seen as being too aggressive against Palin, some voters may think otherwise.

"I don't think he's going there to go after Governor Palin. I think he's going there to make the case for Senator Obama," Axelrod said. "We're going to treat her with the respect that she deserves."

On Friday night, during one of several interviews held after the presidential debate, Biden seemed to have found his own pre-emptive strike for those who worry he'll be too aggressive.

"No, no, no. I'm not going to do what John did," he said.