We all know the game where political candidates preemptively attempt to lower expectations before a debate. It happens so often that it’s a cliché.
On Tuesday, Pennsylvania Lt. Governor John Fetterman is scheduled to debate Dr. Mehmet Oz in their one and only debate. It’s been clear for some time now that Fetterman’s campaign has tried to avoid this debate, and I would not be surprised if they back out at the last minute, but for now, it looks like it’s on, and the Fetterman campaign has taken the lowering expectations game to a new level.
According to a memo sent to the media, the Fetterman campaign wants to “be clear about this match-up.” It repeatedly stresses that “Dr. Oz has been a professional TV personality for the last two decades” and cites a past report that “Fetterman wasn’t great at debates” even before his stroke.
As reporters tune in for the PA Senate debate on October 25th, let’s be clear about this match-up: Dr. Oz has been a professional TV personality for the last two decades.
As The Philadelphia Inquirer’s top political reporters wrote: “Even before his stroke, Fetterman wasn’t great at debates.” We’ll admit – this isn’t John’s format. Look no further than the debates from the primary earlier this year. On the other hand, “Oz is a polished daytime TV host who knows his camera angles and how to craft TV moments.’
John is ready to share his vision for Pennsylvania, defend his record, and make the case against Oz. He’s going to be talking about his real ideas to help real people. But if we’re all being honest, Oz clearly comes into Tuesday night with a huge built-in advantage.
The campaign is also clearly scared about what kind of gaffes Fetterman will make during this debate.
“We are prepared for Oz’s allies and right-wing media to circulate malicious viral videos after the debate that try to paint John in a negative light because of awkward pauses, missing some words, and mushing other words together,” the memo reads. “The captioning process may also lead to time delays and errors in the exchanges between the moderators and the candidates. In fact, because the captions are going to be typed out by human beings in real-time, on live TV, some amount of human error in the transcription is inevitable, which may cause temporary miscommunications at times. It is impossible to control and unavoidable. That’s OK – what matters is that people get to see and hear John’s values.”
Related: Oz Takes the Lead in New Poll
The campaign nevertheless insists that Fetterman has had a “remarkable recovery.”
But perhaps the most telling line is the last sentence of the memo. After praising the way Fetterman “connects” with voters, the memo concludes, “That’s what voters are going to see on the debate stage, and it’s why John is going to win this race – even if he doesn’t win the debate.”
Ouch. As I said, we’re used to seeing candidates lower expectations before a debate, but I don’t think we’ve ever seen a campaign preemptively announce they expect their candidate to lose.
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