In the fall of 2008, as Sen. Joe Biden pondered the delicate task of debating Gov. Sarah Palin, his debate team honchos circulated an internal preparation memo. The first sentence: "No candidate for president or vice president in the history of the country has had more advice on what to say than Sen. Biden has on his debate with Sarah Palin." Biden's then chief of staff Ted Kaufman, who's been friends with Biden for 40 years and was a part of that debate prep, recalled the line to CNN. "And it's absolutely true," Kaufman said of Palin, then the governor of Alaska and a popular yet polarizing politician mostly unknown on the national stage. "Everybody had an idea about how to deal with Sarah Palin. And I think most of it wasn't the issues. It was more of just how do you deal with her because she is so unique.
POL-Debate-Ryan
Paul Ryan's debate preparations are as meticulous as he is.
POL-Ryan-Pictures-Magazine
An aide to Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan accused TIME Magazine of "poor judgment" in its decision to publish photographs of the Wisconsin congressman working out on the day of his debate with Joe Biden.
POL-Debate-Martha-Raddatz-Bio
The moderator for Thursday night's vice presidential debate is Martha Raddatz, senior foreign affairs correspondent for ABC News since 2008.
POL-Obama-Florida-Romney
Less than a week before the second presidential debate, President Barack Obama pulled no punches when talking about his Republican opponent at a campaign rally Thursday, accusing Mitt Romney of going through "an extreme makeover."
POL-BTN-swing-states
By the numbers: Swing states
POL-New-State-Polls
Hours before the only vice presidential debate this campaign, six new polls provide more evidence that the race for the White House is extremely tight. The surveys were all conducted after last week's first face-off between President Barack Obama and GOP nominee Mitt Romney, and they indicate the Democratic and Republican tickets are all knotted up in the battleground states of Virginia, Florida, Ohio, Wisconsin and Colorado.
POL-Poll-Pennsylvania
President Barack Obama's advantage over his Republican challenger in Pennsylvania is now at eight points which is right on the edge of the sampling error, according to a new poll.
POL-Poll-Nevada
The race between President Barack Obama and Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney remains tight in the battleground of Nevada, a poll released Thursday shows.
MONEY-obama-romney-jobs
The most recent polling confirms what both Barack Obama and Mitt Romney know: that the shape of the U.S. economy remains, by a wide margin, the single biggest issue facing American voters.
MONEY-disabled-voters-election
On Nov. 6, there's a very real possibility that many Americans with disabilities will not be able to vote because their local polling places will be inaccessible.
POL-Priebus-Romney-Abortion
The Republican National Committee chairman took to Mitt Romney's defense Thursday, saying the GOP presidential nominee has been unwavering on his position about abortion this cycle.
POL-Cutter-Libya-Remarks
Remarks from one of President Barack Obama's top campaign aides on the terror attack in Benghazi, Libya, drew a sharp rebuke from Mitt Romney Thursday at a campaign event in North Carolina
