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'There's no there there': Fetterman's problems go beyond his health
Washington Examiner ^ | October 03, 2022 | Salena Zito

Posted on 10/03/2022 9:35:33 AM PDT by conservative98

PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania — A couple hundred die-hard supporters of John Fetterman’s campaign stood in the pouring rain Saturday morning in a Pittsburgh parking lot, a scene reminiscent of the former President Donald Trump supporters who stood in the rain for his rally in Greensburg in May. They were all waiting to hear him spell out the reasons why he should be the next senator from Pennsylvania.

The event began with the special guest former Steelers running back Franco Harris, who delivered a mellow 90-second speech on why Fetterman should win in November.

“Very, very important race in Pennsylvania," said Harris. "Certain people are using tactics to discourage our votes. But you know what? We will vote. We will vote."

The crowd responded with, “We will vote. We will vote.”

Harris added, “I will say it once again. We will win. We will win. We will win. Because your one vote will make a difference. Your one vote, so remember, we will vote. We will vote. We will vote for John Fetterman. Here we go, baby.”

And that was it.

Harris was followed by Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey, a Democrat and the first black mayor of the city, who turned the volume up 100 decibels to deliver a fiery and divisive speech about fear. “We've got someone that's on the opposite side that has told us straight that they want to take us back to yesterday," he said. "They want to take our rights from us, and we get John Fetterman for us on this side that wants to uphold our rights and make sure that everybody has opportunity to assets, that everybody has opportunity to the government, that they want to speak! They want to make it hard for us to vote. They want to take our voting rights away from us. They want to send us back to yesterday instead of creating a path of prosperity for tomorrow."

Fetterman then took the stage to the Styx 1979 hit song "Renegade," waving a Steelers' Terrible Towel. He started making his pitch to his faithful followers. “I'm overwhelmed," he said. "I'm overwhelmed. ... Franco Harris? That's pretty Western Pennsylvania, right? What's the opposite of Western Pennsylvania?"

He had the answer for that one: "Dr. Oz," referring to his Republican opponent.

"Now," he continued, "let me ask you a question. How many of you are going to want to tailgate with Dr. Oz?"

Fetterman went on with several stumbles over the next 10 minutes. He talked about sandwiches, salads, french fries on salads, more salads, how Dr. Oz is rooting for him to stay sick, and his most reliable tropes: crudites and protecting marriage equality. He said that Oz wanted to ban abortion with no exceptions and that he reduced crime while mayor of the borough of Braddock.

Then, he left the stage.

It speaks volumes that none of the speakers, including Fetterman himself, addressed the issues that polls show to be of utmost importance to the voters in this state — inflation, increasing crime, and the drug epidemic.

Harris didn’t, Gainey didn’t — and Gainey really should, as the city of Pittsburgh has a staggering three-prong crime, homelessness, and drug overdose problem that is at historic levels and driving residents and businesses outside city limits.

Fetterman’s speech also lacked any mention of the crippling inflation affecting people across the socioeconomic demographics of the state. And not once did he mention the crime wave that is sweeping not just the inner cities of Pittsburgh and Philly but the suburban collar counties as well. Fetterman's only mention of crime was his bragging that he lowered crime in Braddock while he was mayor. But it isn't true — available data measuring crime in the borough between 2005 and 2018 show that violent crime went up under his leadership, not down.

[cut]

The Fetterman event was striking in its contrast to Oz's event on the campaign trail two days prior. Oz spent that time walking back and forth along the six blocks of Parade Street with black leaders from the faith community, listening to the frustrations of random passersby, and discussing what type of solutions they’d like to see from Washington. The heart surgeon spent hours Friday in Duquesne, Rankin, and other distressed majority-black communities along the Monongahela River, touring the town with black leaders and then spending hours listening to their concerns about policing and opportunity and access to better programs for their children to keep them off the streets.

None of the questions that came to Oz in any of those daylong events was easy, nor were the ad hoc questions posed to him when he visited the crime-ravaged Kensington neighborhood of Philly last week. But he showed up, felt the frustration, listened, and learned at the same time Fetterman was placing a meme on Twitter showing a stick image of himself kicking the balls of D.C.

One Allegheny County Democrat, frustrated with the lack of any “meat on the bones” of Fetterman’s rhetoric, said he wouldn't vote for Oz, “but I also won’t vote for Fetterman. I’ll just leave that blank. There is no there there.”

For the last several months, the focus has been on Fetterman’s recovery from heart surgery and a stroke and the lack of transparency on the state of his health, what caused his heart condition, and why he had not revealed this apparently serious problem back when he sought the nomination, or back when he was going for the lieutenant governorship.

Fetterman also has not answered questions about a bizarre incident in which he chased down a black jogger when he was mayor of Braddock. He has not addressed his years of unpaid taxes to one of the poorest school districts in the commonwealth, which he finally did settle and pay, or why he kept several properties he owns in Braddock off of his financial statements when running for office.

Voters do not know where Fetterman stands on the crime wave that is sweeping the state or on how to address the inflationary costs that are crippling the country. They do not know how he would address the current recession or what his solutions are for the fentanyl crisis that is ravaging the Appalachian section of his state, as well as the streets of Philadelphia.

Many reporters believe Fetterman’s lack of honesty and transparency about his health issues have driven his slide in the polls in the past few weeks. But many Democrats will tell you privately that his slide is because people don’t know where he stands on important issues. They are feeling the stress as they watch Oz go into neighborhoods, rural and urban, and take hard questions from voters that Fetterman won't answer.


TOPICS: Politics/Elections; US: Pennsylvania
KEYWORDS: crime; droz; fetterman; fuzzybrain; illhealth; inflation; mentalincompetent; onesandwichshort; salads; sandwiches; strokeout; walkingheartattack; willkeelover; wordsalad
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1 posted on 10/03/2022 9:35:33 AM PDT by conservative98
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To: conservative98

He talked about sandwiches, salads, french fries on salads, more salads...
2 posted on 10/03/2022 9:36:16 AM PDT by conservative98
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To: conservative98

Sad to learn about Franco Harris. At least Lynn Swan is on the right side.


3 posted on 10/03/2022 9:38:19 AM PDT by bwest
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To: conservative98

He is an empty hoodie.


4 posted on 10/03/2022 9:40:00 AM PDT by KC_Conspirator
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To: conservative98
Fetterman then took the stage to the Styx 1979 hit song "Renegade," waving a Steelers' Terrible Towel.

Lost the 'Iggles' fans votes. But then again, Philly uses late night, prefilled mail in ballots, so maybe it doesn't matter.

5 posted on 10/03/2022 9:40:40 AM PDT by Sirius Lee (They intend to murder us. Prep if you want to live and live like you are prepping for eternal life)
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To: conservative98

And he keeps his lumpy concealed with hoodies.


6 posted on 10/03/2022 9:40:57 AM PDT by ponygirl (An Appeal to Heaven )
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To: bwest

Rocky Bleier wasn’t there to lead Franco in the right direction.


7 posted on 10/03/2022 9:43:50 AM PDT by Joe 6-pack
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To: conservative98

Fun day in Happy Valley - thanks to @PennStateGOP for having me at your tailgate! pic.twitter.com/WLsnhr0ez5— Dr. Mehmet Oz (@DrOz) October 1, 2022

Happy to have you! https://t.co/jfYgkhvKvh— Penn State College Republicans (@PennStateGOP) October 1, 2022


8 posted on 10/03/2022 9:44:40 AM PDT by conservative98
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To: conservative98

What about that “TUMOR” on his neck?????


9 posted on 10/03/2022 9:47:10 AM PDT by Osage Orange
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To: conservative98

> He talked about sandwiches, salads, french fries on salads, more salads. <

I believe Fetterman was referring to Primanti‘s, a famous Pittsburgh restaurant. I don’t know if it’s true now, but back in the day they put French fries on everything.

And it didn’t matter if you specified “no fries”. You’re gonna get fries. Some of the wait staff would even take a “no fries” order as an insult.


10 posted on 10/03/2022 9:49:03 AM PDT by Leaning Right (The steal is real.)
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To: conservative98

Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey, a Democrat and the first black mayor of the city, who turned the volume up 100 decibels to deliver a fiery and divisive speech about fear. “....we get John Fetterman for us on this side that wants to uphold our rights and make sure that everybody has opportunity to assets.... They want to send us back to yesterday instead of creating a path of prosperity for tomorrow.”

Translation: He paid me plenty!


11 posted on 10/03/2022 9:49:48 AM PDT by Eleutheria5 (Free country? Good morning, Rip. )
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To: conservative98

Franco, you are just a retired football player.

Stay out of politics.


12 posted on 10/03/2022 9:55:22 AM PDT by Round Earther
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To: conservative98
Someone posted an actual headcount and said there were 119 people there. Likely from Braddock th town 15 minutes away he was Mayor off and any who have people in jail. He's big on letting criminals go.

For Pittsburgh this is a very small crowd....even in the rain.


13 posted on 10/03/2022 9:57:23 AM PDT by caww (O death, when you seized my Lord, you lost your grip on me......Augustine)
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To: conservative98

He’s and idiot jim before his heart attack


14 posted on 10/03/2022 10:03:36 AM PDT by ronnie raygun
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To: Osage Orange
"What about that “TUMOR” on his neck?????"

It's what's left inside his skull slipping down into his neck.

15 posted on 10/03/2022 10:14:58 AM PDT by Carl Vehse (A proud member of the LGBFJB community)
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To: Leaning Right

Burger with fries on top is now a specialty burger on the menu. At least that’s how my local one does it.


16 posted on 10/03/2022 10:15:26 AM PDT by Reily
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To: conservative98

“We will vote. We will vote.”

The crowd responded with, “We will vote. We will vote.”

And the NPCs chanted...


17 posted on 10/03/2022 10:23:51 AM PDT by cdcdawg (Hoes mad! LOL! )
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To: conservative98

“Fetterman was placing a meme on Twitter showing a stick image of himself kicking the balls of D.C.”

Shades of Idiocracy - Ow! My balls!


18 posted on 10/03/2022 10:25:05 AM PDT by Parity
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To: Osage Orange

“. . . it’s not a toomah. . . “

- Ah-nold


19 posted on 10/03/2022 10:26:29 AM PDT by Salgak (You're in Strange Hands with Tom Stranger. . . .)
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To: conservative98

He dresses like a street drunk.


20 posted on 10/03/2022 10:29:35 AM PDT by BillyBonebrake
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