The Pennsylvania Senate race is one of the most bizarre in recent history. Since John Fetterman, the Democrat candidate, had a stroke 5 months ago questions have been hanging over the race. John wrote.
The Pennsylvania Senate race is one of the most bizarre in recent history. Since John Fetterman, the Democrat candidate, had a stroke 5 months ago questions have been hanging over the race. John wrote a piece about the debate itself, and analysis and commentary floods the Internet, so I won’t spend much time on the issue. If you are looking for a hot take, this isn’t it.
And really, what is there to say? Assuming Fetterman was fit to be a Senator at the beginning of the year, he clearly isn’t any more. The stroke did just too much damage to his brain to expect him to be more than a reliable vote. If the Senate is the “world’s greatest deliberative body,” as it is so often advertised, Fetterman doesn’t fit the mold of a great deliberator. Enough said on that subject.
To me what is interesting about this race is the Democrats’ insistence on keeping Fetterman on the ballot. It would have been possible to replace him as a candidate. The ballots for the election weren’t printed 5 months ago. There is nothing shameful or shocking about changing horses when the one you are riding is crippled. And elections of this importance are not about any individuals’ feelings. The Senate helps decide issues about, literally, the fate of the country and the world. All the compassion in the universe does not excuse putting a (now) mentally unfit person into a position of power.
So what are they thinking?
The answer, obviously, is that they believe that the actual figurehead is utterly irrelevant. Just as with Joe Biden who was installed as President of the United States, the front man no longer matters–at least when it comes to Democrats. Anybody who is short of being a corpse will do just fine because it is not the candidate people vote for that does anything important.
