The limitations of the debate format meant the event didn’t yield much new information.
In a campaign statement before the lone debate in the Pennsylvania Senate race and in his opening remarks, Democratic nominee John Fetterman tried to temper expectations for his performance and confront the “elephant in the room”: that due to his ongoing recovery from a recent stroke, he would struggle with his words in a live, rapid-fire format.
In the debate Tuesday night, Fetterman, who suffered a stroke in May, stumbled on his words as his campaign had anticipated, making halting statements and reacting slowly to remarks made by his opponent. Fetterman is grappling with an auditory processing disability as part of his recovery. Because of that, he has trouble parsing sounds in real time. He used closed captions throughout the debate to keep up with the questions moderators were asking and the statements his Republican opponent, Mehmet Oz, was making.
The candidates traded barbs on some big issues — crime and health care — and potentially significant policy statements on abortion (Oz) and fracking (Fetterman). But the debate yielded fewer exchanges and confrontations because the format was not conducive to factoring in the ongoing auditory issues Fetterman is navigating.
Debates are quick and spontaneous by nature, and can be much more difficult to participate in with the added delays of closed captions and auditory challenges if those aren’t properly accommodated. Oz has some major weaknesses as a candidate, but it was hard for Fetterman to elaborate on them in real time.
Fetterman instead focused on his connection to Pennsylvania — he has previously mocked Oz for moving to the state for the Senate race — and stressed his willingness to continue advocating for working people.
