quote:

Originally posted by BeeLady:
Come join us in Massachusetts where we have a moderate Republican Gov in a Majority Democratic State.

Everyone talks to each other, is civil and gets things done...huh..what a concept.

That sounds almost nostalgic. Like a Norman Rockwell painting.

Shame, really. Scorched earth politics gets us nowhere good.

https://www.post-gazette.com/o...stories/202209020009

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazzette is raising concerns with Fetterman’s health (Fetterman is still recovering from a stroke) while also criticizing Oz’s manner of pressing the issue with Fetterman’s health.

People of Pennsylvania, is Fetterman’s health a concern for you while thinking about whom to vote for?

As a Pennsylvania voter, I am hoping that John Petterman can make a full recovery from the aftereffects of his stroke. Even if he were to remain impaired to some degree, I'll still vote for him in preference to Dr. Oz, who stands in opposition to things I believe in.

Big Al

quote:

Originally posted by big al:
As a Pennsylvania voter, I am hoping that John Petterman can make a full recovery from the aftereffects of his stroke. Even if he were to remain impaired to some degree, I'll still vote for him in preference to Dr. Oz, who stands in opposition to things I believe in.

Big Al

Likewise.

Besides if he made an exceptional impression in an abbreviated time in office terminated prematurely because of health related issues, it would leave "us" with an excellent chance of having a Dem successor to be elected in a new election.

I would vote for a turnip before I would vote for Oz.

I'm with markj on this one. 100%.

Yes 100% to Markj.

But just to put a bit more nuanced thought into it, my understanding (and my impression, from the little I have seen him speak in public since his stroke) is that where Fetterman is really struggling is speech. He seems to know exactly what he wants to say but the words don't come out quickly and when they do come out, sometimes they come out wrong. You can literally watch the frustration build on his face when he can't find the words and you can tell that he knows EXACTLY when he has said the wrong word. So I don't think there is anything wrong with his mental function...it is simply a disconnect between his brain and his mouth. This will obviously be a significant liability in a debate, so I don't blame him one bit for trying to avoid them (although I have heard he did finally agree to one debate as of yesterday, and I am honestly afraid of how that is going to go.) But I do not feel like that will hinder his abiltiy to serve as a senator. He seems to be able to read and think and hold positions in his head just fine.... at the moment he is just not able express himself verbally very quickly and he is continuing therapy for that and he continues to make improvements -- I would expect that by the time he would take office, he would be better than he is right now.

And as far as I'm concerned, all he really needs to be able to say is "Aye" and "Nay" (or whatever they heck they say when they vote.) If, God forbid, those were the only two words he was able to utter for the rest of his life, I would absolutely still trust him to represent me better than any Republican candidate -- but especially that charlatan Oz -- could possibly ever do.

That said, if this debate does happen, I'm truly afraid they will exploit every slip up, every pause, every stumble, and it might be the turning point in the race. This is the first time in a long time that I'm starting to feel like Oz may have a shot again. I truly hope I am wrong.

If Fetterman does stumble, Oz had better be careful not to smirk or ridicule him, that could only make Oz look even worse.

quote:

Originally posted by RealPlayer:
If Fetterman does stumble, Oz had better be careful not to smirk or ridicule him, that could only make Oz look even worse.

Truly I would hope so. (And honestly, I am not sure Oz is capable of not smirking. It seems to be his version of resting bitch face.)

But Donald Trump stood on a stage and flailed his arms around and made faces in order to blatantly mock a disabled reporter and still won. I lost my faith in the basic decency of the general electorate a while ago.

Spent yesterday afternoon at a Fetterman rally. Although there's no doubt I'm voting for him no matter what, I kind of wanted to see for myself how well he is doing if only to put my mind at ease about this upcoming debate.

And while he's definitely not 100%, I was actually really pleasantly surprised. He spoke very slowly and deliberately at times, but at other times, words and phrases flowed out quickly and normally. His inflection sometimes seemed wrong for what he was saying, but at no point did he say the wrong word or even stop to look for the right word. I did see his aides leave folders with papers on the podium before he came out so perhaps they left him cue cards or something, I'm not sure, but whatever it was, it worked well enough. He only spoke for about 10 minutes and it seemed to take a lot out of him but he stayed behind and worked the crowd afterward and the crowd absolutely adored him.

I was pleased to see that he also took the bull by the horns and addressed his health struggles right up front. The very first thing he said to the crowd was "How many of you have ever known someone who has had to deal with a serious health issue?" Perhaps your parents? grandparents? yourself? maybe even your kids? Now how many of those people have had a doctor in their lives making fun of them for it? Because that's what I have, sadly." I thought that was a pretty brilliant way to admit that he still has problems and while also shaming Oz for mocking him for it.

He continued to address it with his next statment -- "People ask me what it's like, dealing with my issues now. I tell them it's like when you mean to go to Wegmans........but somehow accidentally tell the uber driver to go to Redner's..... And then when you call your wife to say where you are, you end up saying you are at Wegner's. You sometimes say the wrong word or mush two words together." Again - a brilliant explanation that also pokes fun at Oz. The audience was laughing so hard and immediately at ease with his speaking style. And through the speech, he did get better - you could tell that the stump-speech lines he said often flowed better than ones he had to stop and think about.

I think the man I saw yesterday could get through a debate tomorrow, though he'd speak slowly and I'm sure the press would choose the worst examples of that to soundbite. But it's also clear that his well rehearsed lines can flow normally and I have hope that in another month, he will have enough well rehearsed lines that he can seem mostly "normal" for a debate.

Mostly though, I'm kind of wistful....it's really clear that if the man I saw speak yesterday hadn't had a stroke, he'd not only be completely mopping the floor with Oz right now, he'd probably be in serious contention for the presidency by this point. Seriously - I hope he can make a full recovery because based on his interactions with the crowd yesterday, he is the man who might actually be able to turn the Democratic party...or heck, this entire country.... around.

Fetterman's rally look (he was at least wearing pants, not shorts):

For the life of me, I cannot see the attraction to Fetterman. His accomplishments as mayor were pretty meager, although in fairness he had an uphill battle to begin with. Then there's the shotgun incident, his support of Bernie Sanders. His behavior as Lt. Gov has included defying laws signed by Governor Wolf. Not crazy about Oz either, but I just don't see Fetterman.

It’s simple. He’s a regular guy.

That’s what politicians want people to think of them.

A regular guy. Exactly.

I live in the white-collar burbs of Philadelphia - a college-educated, upper-middle-class white stay-at-home mom. I have a well-paid husband and a nice house and a stockbroker and a 401K and all the trappings of the American dream. But I grew up in a hardscrabble dying coal mining town in NE Pennsylvania. My grandfather was a coal miner. Neither of my parents went to college (well my mom went to community college while I was in middle school and got a 2 year degree in nursing eventually). We moved in with my grandparents a few times while growing up because we couldn't afford to live on our own. When we had our own house, we kept the heat at 55-60 degrees because we couldn't afford to keep it any warmer - and let me tell you I still remember EXACTLY how much it sucked rolling out of my cozy bed into a 55 degree house every morning. And in the town I grew up in, that was just reality for a lot of people. I was lucky that my parents scrimped and saved and stressed how important it was that I go to college. I was lucky that I got out. A lot of my friends didn't.

In the history of Pennsylvania politicians, I don't feel like there have been a whole lot of them that can really understand that experience. Politics tends to be a rich man's (and yes, I say "man" very intentionally) game. Democrats talk about raising the minimum wage or supporting unions but how many politicians have ever watched their mom sit at the kitchen table and try to figure out whether the electric bill or the gas bill should get paid this month out of her minimum wage salary? What's the least amount of money she could possibly put towards each bill to keep the utilities on and still be able to afford to pick up the prescription my sister needs? I watched my mom do that math for years.

The reality is that pretty much everyone in Washington is completely out of touch with that life. They say they care. They say they understand. But they don't, not really. They haven't seen it. They haven't lived it. And sure, you can say that Fetterman has a masters degree from Harvard and he had his parents paying his bills while he was mayor of Braddock and he's more privileged than he seems. But he made the choice to immerse himself in it. He worked with Americorps. He involved himself with Big Brothers Big Sisters and mentored kids who lived that lifestyle. He moved to Braddock and ran for mayor because he saw what people were going through and he genuinely wanted to help. He CHOSE to help. He is the real deal - a person who sees the problems in the world and does what he can to fix them. Is he a perfect person? Of course not. Everyone makes mistakes.

But compare him to someone like Oz, with his custom tailored suits and his 8 (or is it 9 now?) mansions. Do you know that Fetterman not only refused to live in the Lt. Governor's mansion, he also opened the pool for public access and camps for underprivileged children? Think Oz would ever do anything like that? Think the fact that underprivileged children don't have anywhere to learn to swim would even occur to Oz? Do you think Oz spends any time thinking about underprivileged children at all???

So yeah, when I'm thinking about who I want representing me in the Senate -- who I want making decisions about how much insulin should cost and what minimum wage should be and whether student loans should be forgiven......or on the other hand, whether big banks should get another tax break or whether big pharma lobbyists should get their way AGAIN or whether we should prosecute some hedge fund guy for fraud or just wink and look the other way again like we always do.....I want the guy who understands me. Not just the privileged life I live now, but the life I came from, the life that made me who I am, and the life that so many other people in Pennsylvania still struggle through every day. And out of all the votes I have cast over my lifetime, I honestly think that this might be the first time I am voting for someone that I think really, truly, gets all of that.

I didn't know much about him. Thanks for posting that.