PA Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, left, in typical attire
Recently, we posted about how New Jersey Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz‘s U.S. Senate campaign in Pennsylvania is imploding, and how his Democratic opponent, Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman, is taking brilliant advantage of every Oz blunder. Some of the highlights of Dr. Oz’s out-of-touch (and out-of-state) elitism we covered include his 10 houses and his hapless “crudité” video, where Oz tried to cosplay as a Man of the People, and failed hilariously.
What makes Fetterman so appealing in contrast to Dr. Oz is his authenticity as an actual Regular Guy, who wears hoodies and gym shorts on the campaign trail, lives across the street from a steel mill instead of in State House where he and his family are entitled to live, and is a lifelong Pennsylvanian. Fetterman served as the Mayor of his town, Braddock (a predominantly black town outside of Pittsburgh), and even has its zip code tattooed on his forearm.
The other thing that distinguishes Fetterman as an Average Joe is his use of language, which is decidedly not like that of a politician. In particular, Fetterman’s language is casual to the point of occasional profanity.
For example, Fetterman likes the “s” word. When describing his goal of increasing American manufacturing as part of his campaign platform, Fetterman says:
Make more sh*t in America.
Cut taxes for working people.
Ban Congress from trading stocks.
Slash “out of pocket” health care costs.
End immoral price gouging.I don’t see these as Democratic or Republican solutions.
They’re patriotic + pro-America + pro-worker solutions 🇺🇸
— John Fetterman (@JohnFetterman) September 6, 2022
Likewise, when pointing out Dr. Oz’s shocking views about incest, Fetterman tweets:
You can’t make this shit uphttps://t.co/y3csOYZlnu
— John Fetterman (@JohnFetterman) September 9, 2022
And in one of Fetterman’s latest replies to a post by Dr. Oz, another clueless photo op taken at the Dallas Cowboys home football field, Fetterman writes simply:
The Cowboys blow https://t.co/yL6VYJxYKV
— John Fetterman (@JohnFetterman) September 11, 2022
As to the question of whether Fetterman’s no-holds-barred authenticity is working, a recent Franklin & Marshall College poll puts Fetterman ahead of Oz by 13 points. Similarly, the polling average at FiveThirtyEight has Fetterman up by eight percent. If Fetterman beats Oz, his extreme lack of formality may become the model for more politicians.
Photo by Governor Tom Wolf, used under Creative Commons license. https://is.gd/KEfYNi
