A-Team Quotes?

The first GOP debate of '08 is tonight. The candidates all are in California.

A (sorta) big deal.

When you go to the (sorta) big game you bring your A-Team.

The very able Mike Allen has this write-up of some A-Team spin out of Simi Valley today:

DRIVING THE DAY

Playbook asked each of the three front-running campaigns about the message they hoped to project tonight. Here are their playbooks:

Kevin Madden, Governor Romney’s press secretary: “We have a very large audience that’s going to be introduced to Mitt Romney for the first time. They’ll be able to compare and contrast both his experience and his record with a lot of the other folks onstage.

"It will be clear that he is a very idea-based candidate. It will become clear that Governor Romney’s record and life experiences are largely a result of having been outside of Washington -- whether it’s been businesses that he has turned around, whether it’s been the Olympics that he turned around or whether it’s government entities that he’s turned around, they’ve all been outside Washington and he’s had a record of success. It is a record that is not dependent on a lot of the status quo that people see in Washington.”

Brian Jones, John McCain’s communications director: “What we’re hoping for is the opportunity to continue to talk about the themes that John McCain has been discussing over the last month, which are cutting wasteful government spending, reducing the dependence on foreign sources of energy, talking broadly about how to stop or combat Islamic extremists, and for him to talk about his vision and why he’s uniquely qualified to be president.

"He has the experience to do big things, and is ready to lead on Day One.”

Katie Levinson, Rudy Giuliani’s communications director: “Rudy will continue to talk about his vision for the future. Voters will continue to see someone who is a very optimistic person, who is a strong leader with a very clear view of where he wants to take the United States.

"He’s looking forward to the debate, and thinks it’ll be part of an ongoing dialogue with Republican primary voters about why he believes he is the best fit to be the next President.”

Communications director (or press secretary) for a Big 3 Presidential campaign.

That's a (sorta) big deal position.

So can you tell which Big 3 campaign brought the only true A-Team communications director?

We sure can.

We're just saying.