I don’t think any Republican could have won. Fetterman convinced blue collar GOP\Rat\Independent voters he was just like one of them. He made that sale during his run for lieutenant governor. Nothing happened subsequently to change their view.
I don’t know if anyone could have won, but I damn sure know this.. McCormick would have outperformed OZ, and Barnette would have outperformed both of them.
Fetterman won because, A) he actually had a political base and history in PA. B) OZ was a TERRIBLE, TERRIBLE candidate and C) Democrats have a huge advantage in general statewide.
You better have crossover appeal, or MASSIVE independent appeal, if you want to win PA as a Republican statewide. OZ had ZERO... OZ couldn’t even get every GOP vote that was to be had, let alone win independents by more than 2 to 1 or peel away democrat voters.
It’s MATH...
The people who say OZ lost due to Fraud, are correct, but not in the way the charge... OZ lost because HE WAS A FRAUD... period.
> Fetterman convinced blue collar GOP\Rat\Independent voters he was just like one of them. <
Yes, indeed. But Fetterman had two weak points.
1. Fetterman was once the mayor of Braddock, PA. That town was a mess before Fetterman got there, and got worse while he was the mayor. Is that decline all Fetterman’s fault? No. But that’s where the buck stops.
2. While he was Braddock’s mayor, Fetterman grabbed a shotgun and chased after an innocent black jogger. It was disgraceful (and borderline racist) behavior.
Oz’s ads did not mention the first problem until near the end of the campaign. It was too late by then. And the second problem wasn’t mentioned at all.
Tough, hardball play was needed here. Oz’s staff played whiffle ball.
As I noted earlier, the GOP needs to learn from all this. But they certainly won’t.