Fetterman’s absence raises the stakes for Democrats in Senate key race, #Fetterman #absence #raises #stakes #Dems #key #Senate #race Welcome to OLASMEDIA TV NEWSThis is what we have for you today:
Democrat John Fetterman posted a massive $11 million fundraiser in the second quarter. He is heavily involved in advertising, which makes him almost a constant presence on Pennsylvania television. And he draws attention with snappy, irreverent social media posts.
The only thing missing from one of the most competitive races in the US Senate this year is the candidate himself.
Fetterman, 52, has yet to return to the campaign trail in any significant way since a May 13 stroke required surgery to implant a pacemaker with a defibrillator and led to a revelation he had serious heart condition.
The ads currently on the air were shot before the stroke. He did not answer questions from the press. And when the hoodie and shorts-wearing Fetterman made a campaign appearance, it was under tightly controlled conditions and without prior notice to reporters.
Democratic hopes to maintain — or even expand — their fragile Senate majority if the party succeeds in capturing the seat vacated by outgoing Republican Senator Pat Toomey. And with just two months before voters can start casting their ballots, Fetterman is absent from traditional retail campaigns.
But in an otherwise terrifying election year for Democrats, Pennsylvania party officials say they are no longer concerned about Fetterman’s campaign and are repeatedly told he will be fine.
“The campaign told me they thought he was leaving in mid-July,” said Joe Foster, who recently retired as party chairman in densely populated Montgomery County.
Fetterman’s campaign has provided few details about Fetterman’s health since early June, although he acknowledges he has not fully recovered from the stroke and sometimes struggles to speak smoothly. But they don’t intend to wait for a full recovery and say Fetterman will be on the campaign trail soon.
The next may be a July 21 fundraiser planned with Democratic Jewish Outreach Pennsylvania. Fetterman, the state’s lieutenant governor, was expected to speak there, although his campaign has not said whether those comments will be spoken virtually or in person at the event in a suburb of Philadelphia.
Meanwhile, Democrats are taking some comfort in what they consider to be a relatively quiet campaign by Fetterman’s Republican opponent, Dr. Mehmet Oz.
Since narrowly winning the GOP nomination, the famed cardiac surgeon has campaigned in 40 — according to his campaign report — largely low-key cases, such as corporate drop-ins, dinners, and trade shows.
He also took the time to attend Michael Rubin’s party in the posh Hamptons of Long Island on July 4 and delivered keynote remarks at the May annual meeting in Boca Raton, Florida, for the Direct Selling Association – a trade group for “multilevel marketing” companies such as Amway.
Then there was the campaign video he shot—at his sprawling home in Cliffside Park, New Jersey, across the Hudson River from Manhattan, where he practiced medicine, his TV talk show “The Dr. Oz Show’ filmed during the day and more than two decades before seeking the Pennsylvania Senate seat.
That played into the hands of the Fetterman campaign, which had already attacked Oz as a fabulously wealthy carpet-sack New Jerseyan who has no contact with ordinary Pennsylvanians.
“Pro Tip: Don’t film your PA Senate campaign ad from your New Jersey mansion,” Fetterman’s campaign tweeted.
A Fetterman TV ad now on the air — shot before his May stroke — shows Fetterman calling the race a “fundamental choice” between himself getting into politics to run for mayor in Pennsylvania versus Oz getting ” just moved here to run for office.”
It references a news report about Oz’s financial disclosure that his assets are worth at least $104 million and shows footage of Oz laying and kissing his new star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in February.
“Hey, Doc Hollywood, save your money, Pennsylvania isn’t for sale,” Fetterman says.
Then Fetterman flew a plane over weekend beachgoers on the New Jersey coast with a sign following him that read, “HEY DR. OZ, WELCOME HOME TO NJ! ♥ JOHANNES.”
In perhaps the biggest trolling ever, Fetterman’s campaign on Thursday released a video featuring Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi – star of the infamous MTV show “Jersey Shore” – telling Oz she learned he had moved to Pennsylvania to get a job and reassured him not to worry “because you’ll be back home in Jersey soon. This is only temporary, so good luck, you got this and Jersey loves you.’
She then blew him a kiss.
Either way, Oz may have bigger tasks than proving his Pennsylvania roots.
He comes out of a hotly contested primary campaign in which he absorbed more than $20 million in assault ads and questioned his commitment to conservative principles on issues like guns and abortion.
Even with former President Donald Trump’s approval, Oz endured three weeks of counting and recounts before declaring victory by less than 1,000 votes, or less than a tenth of a percentage point, over former hedge fund CEO David McCormick.
That raises questions about whether Oz can unite Republicans on the road to the general election.
For now, Oz is focusing his campaign on core GOP messages, notably blaming rising inflation on President Joe Biden’s policies and trying to portray Fetterman as extreme.
On Thursday, Oz posted a 60-second campaign video online showing him going for a jog in a park and welcoming Fetterman to the campaign trail.
“I’m glad Fetterman is healthy,” Oz says, “so we don’t have to worry about his heart and his hoodie and more about the crazy left-wing ideas in his head.”
GOP officials say they are confident in Oz’s ability to appeal to moderates crucial to victory in the swing state, and Oz is getting help from the Koch-backed grassroots organization Americans for Prosperity and the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
The NRSC has also worked to raise questions among voters about Fetterman’s health.
Last week it created a fake “Have You Seen This Person?” poster online, featuring Fetterman’s face below that ominous question and, in the bio, this bit of information: “Last seen: 5/13/2022.”
That was the day of Fetterman’s stroke, just before a campaign event in Millersville.
Though largely out of the public eye, Fetterman still conducts fundraising talks and holds meetings with campaign staff, a campaign spokesman said.
He leads a relatively normal home life, doing odd jobs like picking up his kids and running to the grocery store, eating out and taking day trips to Erie and Johnstown and a vacation to the Jersey coast.
Fetterman is an avid hiker, racking up his miles, including nearly five miles on Tuesday, the campaign spokesman said.
The campaign has released edited video clips of Fetterman, including an impromptu appearance last Saturday at a volunteer training session where he briefly addressed volunteers.
“I feel so great and we’ll be back on the road soon,” Fetterman told volunteers somewhat hesitantly. “We’re almost at 100%.”
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Follow AP for full coverage of the midterms at https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/ap_politics. Follow Marc Levy on Twitter at https://twitter.com/timelywriter