Since the day of the primaries, John Fetterman has been the clear favorite in his Senate race against Dr. Mehmet Oz. Poll after poll showed the Democratic nominee with a large lead — and then the debate happened. Now the television personality Oz has gone from underdog to suggested favorite in a race that will likely decide the balance of power in Congress.
Democratic strategist Chris Kofinis had harsh words for Fetterman’s team after watching the Oct. 25 debate. “Anyone on his team who agreed to a debate should be fired, or never work again, because that debate may have tanked his campaign.”
While Dr. Oz was smiling, charismatic and calm throughout, his opponent appeared to struggle to string together a sentence. It was clear who had experience on TV and who didn’t. At 6’8”, Fetterman may have physically towered over Oz, but that was about the only thing imposing about his stage presence.
From the moment Fetterman opened his mouth it was also obvious, to me, that he was still struggling from his stroke. “Hi. Good night, everybody,” he proclaimed at the start of his opening statement.
Another rough moment for Fetterman was when moderator Lisa Sylvester pressed him on a 2018 interview where he said, “I don’t support fracking at all.” He tripped over his words with his answer but managed to say: “Oh, I do support fracking. I support fracking, and I stand, and I do support fracking.”
In my opinion, instead of explaining that his position has evolved, he instead sounded like a broken record. If Fetterman can’t answer such simple questions about his own opinions, I wonder how he can be expected to stand up for Pennsylvania in Senate debates.
Oz for his part gave surprisingly moderate answers to most questions. On abortion he clarified that, as a Senator, he would not vote for any federal ban nor endorsement of abortion. “I don’t want the federal government involved with that at all. I want women, doctors, local political leaders letting the democracy that’s always allowed our nation to thrive to put the best ideas forward so states can decide for themselves.”
While Oz has been all over PA campaigning, Fetterman has not nearly traveled around as much because of his health. Many believe that this has allowed Oz to make up for his lack of Pennsylvanian roots by visiting and talking to more voters. Oz touched on that point repeatedly in the debate and answered questions by referencing conversations he had with voters.
This race has been Fetterman’s to lose, but after this debate that may well happen. Oz needed a win, and luckily for his campaign, he got the job done during the debate.
