Pennsylvania Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman held his first campaign rally since being sidelined by a stroke in mid-May on Friday in Erie, Pennsylvania. Fetterman, the state’s lieutenant governor, faces Republican nominee Dr. Mehmet Oz in the race for the open seat currently occupied by Republican Sen. Pat Toomey, who is retiring. Democrats consider this contest their best chance to pick up a Senate seat in November.
Let me preface this by saying that I have no medical training whatsoever. However, after watching a clip of Fetterman speaking on Friday and comparing it to a video he released in February, the difference was pretty clear.
In the clip below, Fetterman speaks in two-word phrases and at times, appears to have difficulty recalling words.
John Fetterman is not okay. pic.twitter.com/3xiQwiBaT3
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) August 15, 2022
In the pre-stroke video below released in February, Fetterman speaks fluidly. There are no traces of the unmistakable pauses between words we hear in the segment above.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Recovery time after a stroke is different for everyone—it can take weeks, months, or even years. Some people recover fully, but others have long-term or lifelong disabilities.”
Coming back from a stroke may not be Fetterman’s only problem. Earlier this month, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported he’d been living off the generosity of his parents “well into his 40s.”
Public records show — and Fetterman has openly acknowledged — that for a long stretch lasting well into his 40s, his main source of income came from his parents, who gave him and his family $54,000 in 2015 alone. That was part of the financial support his parents regularly provided when Fetterman’s only paying work was $150 a month as mayor of Braddock, a job he held from his mid-30s until he turned 49. Partway through his tenure, in 2013, he moved to an industrial-style loft he purchased from his sister for $1 after she paid $70,000 for it six years earlier.
Still, despite his three-month absence from the campaign trail, the RealClearPolitics average of polls in this race shows Fetterman up by 8.7 percent against Oz.
There is a major enthusiasm gap between the two candidates. Having served as the mayor of Braddock from 2006 to 2019, Fetterman is popular in the state. He has repeatedly attacked Oz as a carpetbagger from New Jersey.
According to Fox News:
A big problem for Oz is consolidating GOP support. By a 16-point margin, fewer Republicans stay loyal to him (73%) than Democrats to Fetterman (89%). Same story on favorable ratings, as many more Democrats view Fetterman positively (88%) than Republicans view Oz (67%).
Just 35% of those backing Oz say they support him enthusiastically, while 45% have reservations. For Fetterman, 68% back him enthusiastically and only 18% hesitate.
Republicans have been slow to warm up to Oz. They’d be wise to do so because control of the Senate is at stake. After living through the consequences of Republicans’ lackluster support for then-Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler in Georgia’s January 2021 runoffs, the party can’t afford to snub Oz.
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Once again, the left demonstrates that they only need warm or want, highly controllable, place-holders in order to hold a position and block the right from filling those positions.
I don’t know if Dr. Oz will distinguish himself and do more than keep the left from blocking our side but, honestly, right now that looks pretty good to me.
“ Republicans have been slow to warm up to Oz. ”
By Republicans, do you mean the RINOs in the leadership, or the conservative base?
Fetterman wouldn’t have a chance in Tennessee. He’s a bum trying to have his appearance as as small town working man kind of candidate, when all he is is a lazy bum. How he got to be Lt. Governor I would love to know.
Oz? All I know about him is that he has been on the cover of magazines and on the TV, but of little interest to me. I’ll guess, to a Pennsylvanian, it will be a party line split. That means we will see just how many Republicans there are, in Pennsylvania, or how many Democrats, absent fraud.