VEEP contenders to face off

Vice President Joe Biden and Republican challenger Paul Ryan are gearing up for Thursday night's 90-minute televised debate, both looking to shore up support for their running mates in an increasingly tight presidential race.

Raising the stakes on the 9 p.m. debate is last week's faceoff that boosted poll numbers for Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, and heaped criticism on President Barack Obama for a lackluster performance.

Biden, a seasoned veteran of the U.S. Senate who once chaired the senate Foreign Relations and Judiciary committees, will try to defend the Obama administration's four years of policies, against Ryan, a 14-year U.S. representative who as chair of the House Budget committee was often at odds with Obama's proposals.

The debate, being held at Centre College in Danville, Ky., will cover both foreign and domestic policy questions divided into ten segments. Each candidate will have two minutes to respond to questions from moderator Martha Raddatz of ABC News.

Hours before the debate, both candidates expressed confidence in their upcoming performance.

"I'm not intimidated, I'm actually excited about it," Ryan told CNN.

"Looking forward to it," Biden said as he boarded his plane headed to Kentucky.

While both are well versed in domestic policy issues, the debate is expected to highlight their contrast in styles -- Biden's "folksy" freewheeling speech often laden with gaffes to Ryan's "policy wonk" reliance on stats and figures to support his points.

Both have spent several days surrounded by aides, undergoing hours of policy briefings and practicing for the exchange.

Biden spent three days at a hotel in Wilmington, Del., competing in mock debates against Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD)playing the role of Ryan.

Ryan spent three days in "debate camp" in central Virginia, and two days this week in St. Petersburg, Fla.,debating former U.S. solicitor general Ted Olson, serving as Biden's stand-in.

The nation's attention will turn to Long Island on Tuesday, when Obama and Biden will have their second debate at Hofstra University in Hempstead. The debate is billed as a town hall format, with both men will take questions from a group of undecided voters. CNN political reporter Candy Crowley will serve as moderator.

Obama will look to reverse the trend of polling figures that show Romney gaining. A daily presidential tracking poll by the polling firm Rasmussen Reports showed Obama leading Romney by one percentage point 48-47, with two percent of respondents prefering another candidate and three percent undecided.

The final presidential debate will take place in the swing state of Florida on Oct. 22 at Lynn University, in Boca Raton, with a focus on foreign policy issues.

- With the Associated Press