VP Debate Expectations - The Tyranny of Low Expectations
Barack Obama should replace Senator Joe Biden with Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer. He would appeal to the West and bring credibility on Energy, one of American top issues.
You may be saying, "Who?" How can someone I've have never heard of be seriously considered. Montana? You got to be kidding.
Of course, I'm not serious, but for months many in the political establishment seriously entertained an Obama/Schweitzer ticket. One liberal blog reported "Brian Schweitzer is among the names mentioned most often as a possibility for the vice presidential slot on an Obama ticket," and he was.
His popularity garnered a prime Denver convention spot and a pending invitation for Democratic Senator Tom Harkin's (Iowa) "steak fry," a sign of arrival in party politics. In 2005 the lead-guest was John Edwards, followed a year later, Barack Obama.
Don't get me wrong, I don't think Schweitzer is ready to be President.* But the seriousness of his consideration was seldom questioned in the press. The New York Times ran an extended Schweitzer feature in their Sunday magazine and published his editorial on the future of energy policy.
I raise the Schweitzer comparison not to diminish the serious demands that Palin demonstrate nominal expertise to be president, but expectation may create an unfair playing field. Her experience quotient has been situated so low as to become a self-fulfilling prophesy. Any hint that she has a knowledge deficit will be a big-hit gaffe, satisfying the prevailing narrative.
Expectations for Schweitzer and Palin after the fold
: Palin, Biden, debate expectation, VP debate, Brian Schweitzer
My curiosity revolves around what is driving the frenzied expectations? Is it sexism, elitism, the Palin surprise, ideology, or something else? Certainly it is possible that a Schweitzer candidacy would have engender the same qualification threshold. But one has to wonder.
Two other caveats are also the case: 1) Obama didn't pick Schweitzer. 2) Candidates make much of their own luck. Yet the similarity of Schweitzer and Palin in apparent qualifications leads me to believe factors in addition to "experience" are setting expectations for this VP debate.
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Brian Schweitzer vs. Sarah Palin
Geography
Montana - 4th Largest State (area) - Somewhere near Canada
Alaska - Largest State (area) - Somewhere near Canada
Population
Montana - 44th - 902,195 - One Congressman
Alaska - 48th - 626,932 - One Congressman
Experience
Brian - 1 Term Governor, Member - MT Farm Service Agency committee
Sarah - ½ Term Governor, Mayor Wasilla
Major Accomplishment as Governor
Brian - Budget Surplus - His State is an Energy Winner
Sarah - Budget Surplus - Her State is an Energy Winner
National Expertise
Brian - Energy - Coal
Sarah - Energy - Oil
Avocation
Brian - Hunting and Fishing
Sarah - Hunting and Fishing
Latest Political Accomplishment
Brian - Effective Convention Speech - Denver
Sarah - Effective Convention Speech - St. Paul
Foreign Policy Experience
Brian - Built Irrigation systems in Libya
Sarah - Visited AK National Guard Unit near Iraq
Approval Ratings
Brian - Nearly 70%
Sarah - Nearly 70%
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Some of those factors undoubtedly include gender bias, media backlash to being stage-managed by McCain strategists, and an opaque Palin. Yet for Palin, the debate is a
referendum on her personal fit and that is pretty much it. Expectations are not about whom best addresses foreign policy or even the economy. Biden's expectation?
Show up.
Would that have been the narrative if the VP candidates included Schweitzer? Maybe. My sense is the biggest factor-an expectation "double-standard"--is less about sexism, media revenge, and her potential performance in the debate than it is about philosophy.
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* It should be revealed that I campaigned actively for a life-long friend, Schweitzer's Montana opponent in 2004.
