Debate night: How Joe Biden and Donald Trump are preparing for their big clash

In the 2008 election campaign an entire replica debate stage was constructed for Joe Biden. It was designed to resemble the one he would use in his vice presidential debate and was set up in a hotel in his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware. 

For a handful of nights leading up to the crucial clash Mr Biden would stand in position. The lights would be on, the cameras rolling. Beside him on the stage was Jennifer Granholm, then the governor of Michigan, playing his real opponent – Sarah Palin. 

“Biden held mock debates at the exact time the debate was set to start, just to reorient the body clock,” said Jeff Nussbaum, Mr Biden’s speech writer at the time, as he recalled the intensity of that preparation 12 years ago to The Telegraph. 

“Every night there would be a mock debate and then the debate prep staff would work late into the night going over tape, reviewing answers. They would eventually deliver Biden a packet of notes to his house so when he woke up he could review it.” 

This time round the stakes are even higher. It is not the vice presidency Mr Biden is seeking, but the top job. He has before him not one head-to-head debate but three. And his opponent is a man who has made a reputation of ignoring conventions and going in hard. 

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