Tapped last week by the Gore campaign with 12 other people from across the country to accompany the Democratic nominee to Florida for debate preparations, Mr. Austin suddenly found himself in meetings with the candidate, offering his views on national issues and posing for the cameras.
For Mr. Romney, that means deploying allies like Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey and his own five sons to fund-raisers that Mr. Romney himself might have attended in the past, exploiting their star power to clear his time for debate preparations and speaking with voters.
Van Hollen is a natural fit for debate preparations with Ryan.
Only then has he planned some "down time" for debate preparation.
Mr. Gore was planning to fly from Detroit to Washington and then back to St . Louisfor debate preparation.
Mr. Gore said today in an interview with WTVT of Tampa that of the next four weeks until the election, he expected to spend a total of about one week in Florida, some of it for debate preparation.
A presidential campaign is always an arduous marathon, but 1984 differed from today in two important respects that made carving out a large block of time for debate preparation a sensible tactical choice.
Mr. Gore's schedule did not coincide with Mrs. Clinton's during two days of campaigning in New York this week, though last night, after questions were raised about the issue, Mr. Gore's aides announced that an appearance with Mrs. Clinton that had been tentatively scheduled in Albany, but then dropped to allow for debate preparation, would take place.
And he took a poke at Mr. Obama's "you didn't build that" statement, saying the apostle St. Peter had "so many skeptics and scoffers at the time who were heard to say, 'If you got a church, you didn't build that.' " Mr. Romney also shared his secrets for debate preparation: "First, refrain from alcohol for 65 years before the debate.
Mr. Obama will hole up in Williamsburg, Va., this weekend for debate preparation, aides said, and Ms. Psaki even joked that a childhood friend of the president's from Punahou School in Hawaii, Mike Ramos, who was along for the ride on Air Force One on Sunday, was actually on the plane to act as Mr. Obama's new debate coach.
He has played the traditional role of a vice-presidential nominee: attacking the president more bitingly than Mr. Romney, rallying the party base and doggedly campaigning in states like Ohio and Wisconsin so Mr. Romney can raise money or take time for debate preparation.
