To prepare us for the debate tonight. And by the left I mean the MSM:

it is a mistake to think that the Gov. Sarah Palin who you’ve seen in recent interviews is the one who will show up for the debate tomorrow night.
As Kate Snow nicely illustrated on Good Morning America this morning, Palin was quite impressive in her 2006 gubernatorial performances.

Here’s the LA Times doing it.
Sorry, but you guys can pull out all the debate footage you want, you’ve already painted her as a rube from the sticks who guns down her own diner and who doesn’t know enough about foreign policy to be the running mate of the old guy. You’ve made our expectations low and if she sounds half-way knowledgeable, she’ll win the debate, just as Obama “won” his debate.
Not only is the left trying to raise expectations for Palin but they are trying to lower expectations for Biden (and by the left I mean the Democrats):

McCaskill said of Palin’s opponent, Sen. Joe Biden, Del., that he “has a tendency to talk forever and sometimes say things that are kind of stupid.”
“He a regular guy and … he doesn’t parse his words and he’s not hyper-careful,” she said. “He’s very authentic.”
She then seemed to regret what she’d said.
“I was probably having a Joe Biden moment myself,” McCaskill said of her candid moment minutes before.

Is a “Joe Biden moment” the new metaphor for gaffes? I think I might steal it.