Last Friday, John Fetterman took the stage in Erie, Pennsylvania to make his first public appearance since suffering a stroke on May 13. held a public meeting.
The Democrat running for Senate in Pennsylvania received a heroic reception from the crowd that spun his Steelers' damned towel in the air in Pittsburgh. Six-foot-eight, bald and goatee-bearded, Fetterman wears his signature black hoodie, rolls up his sleeves to reveal a large tattoo, and has always been his brand comeback. provided.
"My life may have ended three months ago, but I am so grateful to be here," he said. Later he joked. Who would have thought that... who would have thought that this race would make me anormalperson.
The crowd laughed. Now,polls show the Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor trailing Trump-backed Dr. Mehmet Oz by 8.7%. But in his 11-minute speech at his Bayfront convention his center, Fetterman, 53, stumbled over the words several times and repeated them over and over with a trembling voice. Several people in the crowd that night told me they were worried about his health and his ability to go far.
"I agree with John on virtually every issue" Harrisburg said Mr. Democratic Party based. "(But) his performance in Erie gave me a little pause. I think the pivot point will be the couple of debates that have to take place in the fall.
"If John doesn't discuss his opponents, I think all bets will be void," he added.
Since his stroke, Fetterman has mostly discussed Oz on his Twitter. He relentlessly trolled the famous doctor on social media for being his carpetbagger elite from New Jersey, and most recently mocked Oz for calling a vegetable tray a "crudité." , for his campaign he raised $500,000. "Dr. Oz, welcome to New Jersey"
Wednesday , the two candidates fought over which was closer to the common man,Oz seemed to forget how many houses he owned 50} ), Fetterman pounced. “I have never spoken to a PA resident who doesn’t know how many houses he owns… let alone eight houses apart. I don't know (there are only two mansions) or if he really doesn't know," he tweeted.
Oz retorted. You were dependent on your parents until you were nearly 50 years old. A normal person does not depend on his parents when he turns 50. Get off John's sofa.
Fetterman's father Karl was a successful businessman and a Pennsylvania man. Founder/Owner of Kring Insurance. Fetterman not only grew up in the wealthy suburb of York, Pennsylvania, but his parents supported him and his family financially during his 13 years as mayor of Braddock. He took office as lieutenant governor in his 2019 at the age of 49. In 2015 alone, his parents paid him $54,000 in salary
he lives with his wife Giselle and their family. The three children of the spacious Braddock Loft that they bought for $70,000 and handed over to Fetterman for just $1.
"The only thing people don't hear much about is his upbringing and how he made his living. Obviously he does good things." And that's a big part of the story, but it's not the whole story," said Mike Mix, a Pennsylvania-based Democratic strategist.
When asked about his privileged roots, Fetterman said in a text from his personal cell phone: I have dedicated my life to fighting for forgotten communities.
However, Fetterman's attempts to stand up for the common man sometimes backfire. On July 24, he tweeted a picture of himself next to a picture of the gas pump at his station on his sheets, captioned: Dr. Oz will not stand up to the special interests and corporate executives who are raising our prices, but I will.
Sheetz is a family-owned Pennsylvania company founded in 1952. We currently have over 20,000 employees. Voters in the red area of Blair County, where Sheets is located, viewed the business as an example of American exceptionalism and were not amused by Fetterman's excuses rather than corporate greed.
Fetterman spokesman Joe Calvello said the tweet delved into Sheetz, even though the candidate was standing in front of the Sheetz pump in the tweet. I said no. Fetterman believes Sheetz is "the best gas station in the world."
Fetterman has not appeared at major events outside of the Erie rally. What he thinks about many of today's major issues like fracking (the state's huge economic powerhouse), the recently passed climate change and tax bills, and the impact on families and small businesses.
Still, he may win the race by avoiding scrutiny from the press, putting himself on the campaign trail, avoiding debates with Oz, and tweeting himself.
When asked how many debates he planned to attend, Fetterman replied in his message, texted from his personal cell phone.
All debates were sponsored by local nonpartisan news outlets not affiliated with Oz, and neither candidate set any conditions. When pressed, Fetterman said his answer was a jab to Oz, who called for a debate on the same day as his rally in Erie. "People weren't paying attention to him, so he called five debates. Good try."
The alleged campaign, which could prove Fetterman's downfall in this election, is still seen as a toss-up, said Jeff Brauer, a professor of political science at Keystone College. Science. "Especially Pennsylvanians love to see candidates talk to voters on the ground, face-to-face and often, and sometimes even demand it."
Fetterman, just nine miles from Pittsburgh Since running for mayor of the small steel town of Braddock in 2005 and winning a single provisional ballot, his towering tattooed figure has become synonymous with ordinary hero. image.
But for decades that image has made local Democrats It's been frustrating. An outsider who had no problem flipping the party leader. Fetterman dove into his 2016 Senate primary, nearly upsetting the Democratic establishment's candidates, but two years later changed course and won the incumbent lieutenant governor (the was also a member).
A high school and college athlete, his Fetterman joined the federally funded program AmeriCorps after earning his MBA from the University of Connecticut to serve those in need. did. He then earned a master's degree in public policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
To Whom His Progressive Honesty Nor did he lose in 2013 when he tracked down a black jogger who was believed to be involved in theshooting. Fetterman said at the time that after calling police, he jumped in a truck and cornered the man, holding him at 20-gauge shotgun to keep him motionless until police arrived. It turns out that the man, Christopher Miyares, was dressed for running and was doing just that — running for exercise, not for crime.
Despite the illegality and racist conspiracy of the incident, that did not stop Fetterman from winning another term as mayor. He became lieutenant governor and won the Senate primary — in an exclusively held election. among Democratic voters. To this day, Fetterman has never played a Republican in an independent race.
In addition, Fetterman said he was mayor of Braddock. The Borough is in worse shape than it was when he took over. The heart of the community, Braddock Hospital, closed several years ago, with a declining population and rising crime.
One reason is that he's "very" good at promoting himself. "And his detractors say it can also come at the expense of the party or the community, or the elected officials with whom he works."
Fetterman also advertises his own health problems. After suffering a stroke just four days before his Democratic Senate primary, he was treated by Pittsburgh cardiologist Ramesh his Chandra. On June 3, Fetterman published Chandra's disastrous diagnosis, telling the candidate five years earlier that he had diagnosed an arrhythmia, prescribed medication, and improved his diet and exercise. , will follow up in a few months.
"Instead," the doctor writes. For five years, John did not go to any doctor or take any medication. Chandra continued, Fetterman now has a pacemaker and a condition called cardiomyopathy, but as long as he continues to take his health seriously, he should be able to serve in the U.S. Senate "without a problem." said.
Brauer argued that his campaign plan was simply to survive the popular image. and do not significantly overturn his lead in the polls — a strategy often employed when a famous person maintains a consistent lead.
That strategy can work, but it can backfire, especially by lowering voter turnout on Election Day. "Hillary Clinton's strategy in the second half of the 2016 presidential election was when the polls made her seem unbeatable," Brauer said. "Of course, it didn't turn out well for her." reminded him how much he missed going out. He added that he would soon be back on the trail and back to Red County in western Pennsylvania.
"I feel better and better every day and I never slow down."