John Fetterman was forced to agree to a Tuesday debate. He put it off until October 25, so that many people could vote via early voting.
The Democrats probably didn’t want him to go out there, because his gaffes have already caused his race to shrink to a dead heat now with Dr. Mehmet Z, his Republican opponent. He’s now ahead by more than a third of a point after Oz was trailing by double figures. It was supposed to hide Fetterman’s problems, but it isn’t working.
Four days ago, I reported that the race was now tied. Then, there was another poll that showed Oz leading by 4.5 points. Wick’s poll has Oz leading — 49.1 percent to 44.6%, with 3.4 percent voting for another candidate and 2.9 percent undecided. Most importantly, Oz leads among the undecided at 59 percent to 41%. If the poll is correct, then there seems to be a direction these people are going in, and it appears to be toward Oz. Fetterman is still at 2.2 percent according to the RealClearPolitics Average, but it’s clear that Oz can win.
With a memo they just sent to the media, the Fetterman team is trying to downplay any expectations that Fetterman might have in the debate. They know this is going to be messy.
It is funny. The memo tells media that they want “to be clear” that Dr. The memo is hilarious, telling media that Oz is a professional television personality for the past two decades and “this isn’t John’s format.” What exactly is John’s format? Because he has made so many mistakes in different formats, no one seems to know what his “format” is. According to the Fetterman people, Oz has a “huge advantage” in entering the debate.
In a memo sent to reporters, the Fetterman campaign seeks to lower expectations for tomorrow’s debate with Oz: “We’ll admit — this isn’t John’s format … if we’re all being honest, Oz clearly comes into Tuesday night with a huge built-in advantage.” pic.twitter.com/21CCMGGvbI
— Holly Otterbein (@hollyotterbein) October 24, 2022
It’s true, Oz was a popular television personality and a skilled cardiothoracic surgeon. He was also a professor emeritus at Columbia University Medical Center. He was even involved in the invention of cardiac surgical devices, such as the Mitraclip that treat mitral valve regurgitation. He is smarter and more capable than Fetterman.
It’s funny that Fetterman people now try to make him stronger to avoid the disaster he will face. They even attack those who will be writing about the debate beforehand, saying that they know there will be viral videos due to “awkward pausing, missing some words and mashing together words”. Yes, because he has basic communication and understanding issues — that’s a problem for anyone running for Senate. While the Fetterman people pretend that it’s not, we have every right and privilege to discuss that issue with people.
Oz may be a television personality and he may have been an academic, but he isn’t a professional politician like Fetterman. Fetterman is the only person who has ever had that “job”. He’s lived off his parents for most of his adult life, which is quite different from Oz. One would expect that he would be able to achieve political success with all of his “experience.” But he left Braddock even worse than when it was when he finished his term as mayor. He also skipped a large part of his Lt. Gov. job. Pennsylvania.
The memo concludes by saying that Fetterman “will win this race — even though he doesn’t lose the debate.” This is a concession they made in advance of his likely loss. This is a bad look for a race that is neck-and-neck. They know they are about to be swept aside in the debate. It wouldn’t be just that. Oz is also likely to vote for him.
