The presidential campaign of Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) today claimed victory in Friday night’s debate and immediately got busy lowering expectations for upcoming contests. Campaign officials also sought to lower the bar for their vice presidential candidate, even though Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Del.) has been in the Senate most of his adult life and ran for president twice. “She’s a terrific debater,” one Obama official said of the Republican vice presidential nominee, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. The vice presidential debate is scheduled for Thursday, while the next presidential debate will be Oct. 7 in a “town hall” format. “John McCain is the undisputed town hall champion,” said one Obama adviser on the call. The McCain campaign released a statement asserting its candidate was the winner Friday evening. “There was one man who was presidential tonight, that man was John McCain,” said McCain-Palin 2008 Communications Director Jill Hazelbaker. “There was another who was political, that was Barack Obama,” she said. “There was a leadership gap, a judgment gap, and a boldness gap on display tonight, a fact Barack Obama acknowledged when he said John McCain was right at least five times.” Obama officials said Obama projected an image of steadiness during the debate and clearly explained his positions, saying they expect undecided voters who make up their mind in the wake of the debate to back Obama. They released an ad Saturday morning critical of McCain for not mentioning the middle class during the debate.