Editor 's note : Join Roland S. Martin for his weekly sound-off segment on CNN.com Live at 11:10 a.m . ET Wednesday . If you 're passionate about politics , he wants to hear from you . A nationally syndicated columnist , Martin has said he will vote for Barack Obama in November . He is the author of `` Listening to the Spirit Within : 50 Perspectives on Faith '' and `` Speak , Brother ! A Black Man 's View of America . '' Visit his Web site for more information . Roland S. Martin says the McCain campaign has done Sarah Palin a disservice by keeping her hidden . ( CNN ) -- Is Alaska Gov . Sarah Palin running for vice president of the United States or vice president of the student council ? Listening to some political strategists , pundits and radio and TV blowhards , you would think that all she has to do is show up , sign her name on the roll , and she 's done enough to satisfy the requirement for president . Do people really and truly understand that she will be sitting a heartbeat away from the presidency , backing up a 72-year-old guy who has a history of cancer ? Nothing drives me nuts more than listening to some of these folks who act as if we should n't expect Palin -- and Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. Joe Biden -- to be well-versed on national issues , foreign policy and the social and cultural issues that have to define America . Conventional wisdom says that the vice president means nothing and that the voters going to the polls between now and November 4 are really voting on Sens . Barack Obama and John McCain . iReport.com : What would you ask Palin , Biden ? But looking at the role that the last few vice presidents have played , especially Vice President Dick Cheney , it is clear that the VP can make a world of difference and that we should be demanding the tough answers to tough questions from both candidates . Now , the blowhards have been going on and on , suggesting that too much attention is being paid to her gaffes and not to those of Biden . True . But what we have learned this election season is that there are double standards . Countless folks have said that we all know McCain , and it 's necessary to scrutinize every aspect of Obama . Really ? I think if you ask the average person , they 'll know a lot more about Obama 's childhood than McCain , solely by the level of scrutiny . The truth is , the nation does n't know much about Palin . And when folks do n't know a lot about you , there is an expectation to get to know more . As for Palin , I fundamentally believe that millions of Americans want to know what she thinks about the critical issues of the day and not from reading cue cards . The McCain camp has done her a huge disservice by treating her like a Faberge egg , totally untouchable . She needed to do multiple media interviews and not keep an arm 's distance from the media and , yes , the general public . Back to that low expectation thing . The reality is that the McCain camp and Republicans want that . Even Biden and the Obama camp are tamping down expectations , hoping that if the bar is set just above someone 's ankle , it will be easy to cross . Hogwash . Now is not the time for low bars and low expectations . We need our candidates to think big and be big . They need to speak to our concerns and our fears . And yes , Biden has been around a long time , and many say they know what to expect from the loquacious one . But Palin must strut her stuff . Thursday 's debate will not be read from a teleprompter . It wo n't be on cue cards . With the nation watching , she is going to put up or shut up . What is most at stake is whether she 's the subject of further ridicule or can show Americans that she has a strong command of the issues . If she can do the latter , she validates McCain 's selection . If not , she calls into question his judgment , and at this stage of the game , that is not a good thing . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the writer .
Vice presidential candidate can make lots of difference , Roland Martin says . McCain campaign has done America a disservice , he writes . He says American people want to know where she is . Thursday 's debate will be proving ground , he writes .