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The two major candidates for the open Pennsylvania Senate seat took the stage in Harrisburg with something to prove. Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman had to prove he could do the job after suffering a stroke in May. Retired surgeon and TV host Mehmet Oz, a political neophyte endorsed by former President Donald Trump, had to show he could really understand the issues in Washington and address policy issues head on. Here are our key takeaways from the discussion: Fetterman is trying to show he can do the job Before the debate began, the Fetterman campaign sent out a memo lowering expectations, noting that he had not performed well during the primary debates. As a result, Mr. Fetterman’s primary goal was to exceed expectations. At the beginning of the discussion, Mr. Fetterman mentioned that he had a stroke in May and that he struggles with auditory processing. As a result, he had to use subtitles. “Let’s also talk about the elephant in the room. I had a stroke. He never let me forget it. And I may miss some words during this conversation, two words together, but it knocked me down and then I keep coming back up,” he said at the start of the debate. At times, Mr. Fetterman had delayed responses while reading responses and sometimes missed a few words. Likewise, he was questioned about whether he was fit to do the job by moderators and why he was not fully transparent with his medical records. “I think if my doctor thinks I’m fit to serve, and I think that’s appropriate,” he said. “And I think that, again, my doctors, the real doctors, that I think they all think that I’m ready to be served.” Oz avoids the questions Throughout the debate, Dr. Oz often tried to deflect whenever he was asked about a number of issues. When asked about the minimum wage, he deflected and did not directly answer whether he would support a federal law. “I think market forces have already raised the minimum wage,” he said. Similarly, when asked whether he would support Senator Lindsey Graham’s 15-week abortion ban, he never fully answered the question. “I’ll give you a longer answer. I’m not going to support federal rules that get in the way of states’ ability to do what they want to do,” he said. Likewise, he declined to say out of the gate whether he supported a federal ban on abortion. “I want women, doctors, local political leaders, to let the democracy that has always allowed our nation to thrive to advance the best ideas so that states can make up their own minds,” she said. Personal insults fly throughout the conversation Mr. Fetterman and Dr. Oz ran one of the most intensely personal and bitter campaigns ever. Mr. Fetterman began his opening statement by talking about the so-called Oz rule: “If he’s on TV, he’s lying.” “He did it during his TV show career. He did that during his campaign that he lied about our record here and he’s also lying during this debate,” Mr. Fetterman said. Likewise, Dr. Oz invoked Mr. Fetterman’s past and called him a freeloader who lived off his parents’ wealth. “But John Fetterman thinks minimum wage is his weekly allowance from his parents,” he said. “He’s not really that knowledgeable about the real challenges of business owners who have had the balance with employees.” Oz tries to go to the center – while bear hugging Trump Throughout the debate, Dr. Oz tried to portray himself as a moderate, avoiding questions that might make him seem too extreme for the state of Pennsylvania. “I’m going to run for the U.S. Senate because Washington continues to get it wrong with extreme positions,” he said. “I want to bring civility, balance all the things you want to see because you’ve been telling me on the campaign trail.” He accused Mr. Fetterman of being an extremist on crime, fracking and health care, citing his opponent’s past support for Senator Bernie Sanders. “John Fetterman, however, cannot go to Washington and work with the other side because he just didn’t get along with his own side,” he said. “He criticized Joe Biden for not spending enough money and not getting close enough to Bernie Sanders.” However, when asked about his support for former President Donald Trump, who has endorsed him, he said he would support a 2024 run by the man who endorsed him. “I would support Donald Trump if he decided to run for president in 2024,” he said. “But this is bigger than one candidate. This is a much bigger story about how we’re going to build a bigger stage to let more Americans feel safe.” Throughout the Trump presidency, Republicans have been hemorrhaging support in the suburbs of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, especially because suburban voters, especially suburban women, have found Mr. Trump off-putting. While Dr. Oz had little choice but to stand behind the person who endorsed him and saved his candidacy, that could make some voters skeptical about his endorsement. Will public opinion of Fetterman change after the debate? Before the debate, a CBS/YouGov poll showed 55 percent of registered voters in Pennsylvania said Mr. Fetterman was healthy enough to serve. But that number has dropped by four points since September. Mr. Fetterman was always going to be in a difficult position when he had his stroke: if he avoided a conversation, he was seen as shirking a key job responsibility, but if he took the stage, he would likely be judged on his overall condition. performance and perceived suitability for the office. Mr. Fetterman tried to frame the stroke as a way to show he empathizes with other voters, saying “it knocked me down and then I’m going to keep getting back up. And this campaign is for me to fight for everybody in Pennsylvania who’s ever been hit, who needs to come back.” The question now is how voters will receive it. About one in four Americans has a disability, and they may sympathize with him or may have reservations about him while he is still recovering.
