I normally don’t pay much attention to presidential debates – or joint appearances, given that they’re not really debates as I understand the term.

This year’s encounters may be different. The supposed closeness of the race between President Obama and Mitt Romney suggests the joint appearances could be decisive.

I track the RealClearPolitics poll averages daily. I see that the race is tight – if you believe the averages. I think it’s pretty close, but I sense that it’s not as close as the RCP average suggests.

The reputable polls – such as Pew, CNN and Gallup – all seem to show Obama opening up a lead of 4 to 6 points. He’s getting very close to the magic number of 50 percent in many of these surveys. Some of the more right-wing partisan polls, Rasmussen in particular, pull the gap closer.

What, then, will the debates reveal? They’ll show us which candidate is sharper on his feet. They’ll produce some sound bites, some of which might live forever: “Poland isn’t under Soviet domination,” “ There you go again,” “Are you better off now than when you were four years ago?” and, my favorite (from the 1988 VP debate), “Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine … senator, you’re no Jack Kennedy.”

As I’ve watched Romney and Obama trudge their way through this campaign so far, it’s clear – to me at least – that the president is the more intellectually nimble of the two.

But debate prep could be key. New York Times is reporting that Obama is a bit behind in his preparation, while Romney is ahead of schedule. And that leads to the potential of being “too prepared,” a la President Reagan in 1984, who stumbled badly in his first encounter with Walter Mondale.

Ah, but the Gipper was ready in Round Two, when he was asked, based on his earlier performance, whether he was too old to be president. “I will not make age an issue in this campaign. I will not exploit for political purposes my opponent’s youth and inexperience,” Reagan said. (Come to think of it, maybe that was my favorite political debate moment.)

This upcoming series of joint appearances could be just as much as fun as any we’ve seen in the Television Age. As for the veep debate, don’t rule out Vice President Joe Biden making the sound bite hall of fame list, for better or worse.

Looking forward to watching it.