The Polls
Missouri remains a true battleground state with no clear outcome in sight although a USA Today/Gallup Poll released on Friday has McCaskill pulling ahead slightly (48 to 45 with a five point error margin).  John Riley at Campaigns and Elections described the race as a "dead heat:"

Many political pundits consider the race a toss-up or give the edge to Talent because of incumbency. But recent electoral history seems to indicate that Missourians are perfectly content to vote against incumbents. This race will likely be one of the most watched and most highly funded of all the Senate races in the country, and, just like C&E's poll, could be decided by a razor-thin margin.

Recent opinion polls reflect the closeness of the race.  The Rasmussen Reports continues to rate the race as a toss-up (10/2), Mason-Dixon (10/2) has the race tied, while Zogby International (9/25) still has Talent with a 1 point lead.

Past Debates
Talent and McCaskill have already debated once at a forum on September 15th at the Lake of the Ozarks (audio). Overall, the tenor of the first debate was "noncontroversial" according to Terry Ganey of the Columbia Daily Tribune while David Drucker in Roll Call (9/20) described the debate in the following terms:

Held at the luxurious Lodge of the Four Seasons in central Missouri, the Talent-McCaskill appearance before the publishers was a decidedly polite affair that was more idea forum than pointed debate. Both scored some points - and took some hits - as they argued over the Iraq War, the war on terror, illegal immigration and the economy, among other topics (the Libertarian and Progressive party candidates were included in the event).

The Kansas City Star had a brief recap which notes the candidates "frustrations" with being limited to 60 second answers.  

Campaign Debate Spin
In general, the McCaskill camp seems more interested in promoting the debates and utilizing the post-debate spin.  After the Lake of the Ozarks debate, McCaskill's campaign manager spun the debate this way in the campaign's blog:

Friday's debate at the Lake of the Ozarks offered a good look at how Jim Talent runs his campaign.  When attacked for voting against veterans' benefits 23 times, he came right out and lied about it.  Springfield's KY3 did an excellent job of exposing Talent's record by focusing on the Senate vote this past March, when Talent helped defeat an amendment that would have saved veterans from tripling TRICARE premiums.

In addition, the McCaskill campaign is actively promoting the MTP debate by organizing "Meet the Press Debate Watch Parties."

The Issues
The Kansas City Star ran a useful and insightful summary of where the candidates stand on the issues for those seeking a recap prior to tomorrow's debate.  As in previous MTP debates, expect Iraq to dominate the Talent-McCaskill debate.
David Goldstein at the Kansas City Star has conducted a useful Q&A with each of the candidates on the issue of Iraq (Talent, McCaskill).  His conclusion: "The war and what to do about it mark a deep divide between the candidates."  

Two other issues which are likely to emerge in this debate are stem cell research and the minimum wage, by virtue of the fact that there are ballot initiatives on both issues on the Missouri ballot.  The stem cell issue is the most divisive and is one that paints a sharp contrast between the candidates.  The proposed constitutional amendment to the Missouri Constitution would permit scientists to conduct early stem cell research.  Talent opposes the amendment, claiming that it would "create an unqualified constitutional right in Missouri to clone human life."  McCaskill supports it because it "bans human cloning" while preserving scientific research.

There is less distance between the two on the minimum wage initiative which would raise Missouri's minimum wage to $6.50 an hour.  Talent says he supports a congressional increase if it is linked to assistance for small businesses who would be adversely impacted.  McCaskill supports it unequivocally.  

Finally, David Lieb at the Associated Press has written and instructive fact check on some of McCaskill and Talent's recent charges and counter charges