After U.S. Sen. John McCain left the Iowa State Fair, he went to a private fundraiser at the Wakonda Country Club in Des Moines, where he seemed to lower expectations about how his debate performances and his convention speech might stack up against his opponent, U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, who is known for soaring speeches and quick wits.

According to the pool report from the Washington Post’s Michael D. Shear, this is what McCain said:

I know, by the way, and you know, that Sen. Obama will give great speech at their convention before 75,000 people in Denver. And I don’t expect to match up to that. And in the debates, iI expect him to do extremely well in the debates. He’s very very good. But I think its going to be substance that matters. And I think it’s going to be vision for america and I think it’s going to be concrete plans of action. But don’t underestimate the challenges we face.