Democratic Senate candidate John Fetterman and his Republican opponent Mehmet Oz shake hands before their debate in Harrisburg, Pa., Oct. 25
Photo:
greg nash/abc27/EPA/Shutterstock
As a neurologist, I had two reactions to last week’s Pennsylvania Senate debate between Democrat
John Fetterman
and Republican
Mehmet Oz.
First, I thought it was admirable of Mr. Fetterman to participate, even though the effects of his recent stroke were grossly apparent. Second, the alarm over Mr. Fetterman’s fitness for office tells me that even in this image-saturated age, the American people are hungry for serious thought.
Before last week, most of the race between Messrs. Fetterman and Oz had been fought in images. Since Mr. Fetterman stopped making public appearances after suffering a stroke in May, his campaign had resorted to trolling Mr. Oz on Twitter. The strategy made good use of a People magazine photo spread of the physician-turned-TV personality’s massive New Jersey home.
The other defining image of the campaign was of a pull quote. As the weeks rolled by with no sign of Mr. Fetterman, people naturally began to wonder about his condition. To assuage their concerns, Mr. Fetterman released a statement from his doctor declaring that “he has no work restrictions and can work full duty in public office.” If voters had decided the campaign on these two images alone, they would have likely gone decisively for Mr. Fetterman, who led Mr. Oz in the polls throughout the summer.
And then they heard Mr. Fetterman at the debate. You don’t have to be a Republican to admit Mr. Oz clearly got the better of Mr. Fetterman. The public reaction, however, hasn’t been focused on how the candidates looked—who was better dressed, who was better poised, who had the better quip—but on where they stood on the issues. Fracking was one prominent example. Years ago Mr. Fetterman declared he unequivocally opposed fracking and always had. Yet when asked…
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