After last night’s disastrous debate in the Pennsylvania Senate race that may determine which party controls the U.S. Senate, John Fetterman’s campaign said that he “dominated.” Yes, it really said that.
Perhaps it was covering its own incompetence: he should not have been allowed to debate at all. Ducking the debate would have done less damage to Fetterman’s prospects than the painful display last night. Horrified audiences were subjected to Fetterman responses like…
- “We all have to make sure that everyone that works is able to. That’s—that’s the most American bargain, that if you work full time, you should be able to live in dignity as well true.”
- “And I believe they haven’t have any businusses being being. You can’t have businesses being subsidized by not paying… individuals that just simply can’t have avave [?] to pay their own way.”
- Then there was the endless dead air when Fetterman was asked about his flip-flop on fracking. Finally he said, “I do support fracking and I don’t, I don’t — I support fracking, and I stand, and I do support fracking.”
Despite claiming that their candidate triumphed while his campaign was falling apart in chunks on TV, Fetterman’s spokespeople blamed malfunctions in the special closed captioning system he required. The technicians responsible responded that the system worked perfectly.Speaking of dubious blame-casting: The House Progressive Caucus sent a letter this week, signed by 30 of its members, urging President Biden to have diplomatic talks with Russia to resolve the Ukraine conflict. The letter backing talks with Putin was originally drafted and signed in June, and its unexpected release sparked anger and criticism by fellow Democrats—after all, the position stated was similar to that of many Republicans. Can’t have that!
But the progressives are principled and have the courage and integrity to stand up for what they believe, so….I’m just kidding, they folded like a wet cardboard box yesterday and withdrew and rejected their own letter .
Here’s the part that relates to this post’s title: Though sources familiar with the situation told POLITICO that Caucus chair Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) personally approved the letter’s release, Jayapal claimed that the letter was released erroneously by staff prior to vetting.
Yes, it’s the old “blame the staff” ploy. Even if this were true, and few in Washington appear to believe it, a supervisor should never stoop to such a despicable accountability dodge.
But Jayapal, like Fetterman’s hacks, thinks that the public will believe anything. The disrespect is staggering.
And revealing.
Ethics Alarms 
I’ve notice that, when people and institutions get used to being able to control the flow of information and shut out dissenting voices, their ability to lie convincingly seems to atrophy. I saw it years ago with the Chinese Communist Party, when they talked of Uyghur “terrorists” being shot and killed while attacking a police station. With none shot and wounded, none captured unharmed, and no casualties among the police. Now we see it with Democrats (“CRT isn’t being taught! And that it’s being taught is a GOOD thing!”).
Why bother when you don’t need to convince anyone?
After Fetterman’s performance last night, anyone from this point on that votes for Fetterman (outside of his immediate family) would vote for a blathering parrot as long as it has a (D) for Democrat after it.
Those who do will be sufferers of the NeverTrump effect. In this case, it’s the NeverOz effect. They will vote for a slug over Oz.
Vote for Oz for he is a Healer, and our nation is in desperate need of healing.
I could embellish, elaborate on that theme, and before long the sensitive ones would be tearing up and voting for Oz.
There are lots of “yellow dog” democrats in Pennsylvania, I hear. So don’t be surprised if he manages to eke out a victory in spite of his obvious incapacity.
I will be very surprised. The polls had the race virtually tied before the debate, and pollsters have been consistently under-estimating GOP support for ten years now. I think Oz wins handily.
Addendum: Althouse thinks that nobody will switch votes based on Fetterman’s performance. She seems to assume everybody is only concerned with who gets to control the Senate. Most voters don’t follow inside Hill baseball that closely, and independents make up at least 30% of the electorate. This is an unusually naive analysis by Althouse.
https://althouse.blogspot.com/2022/10/will-anyone-switch-their-vote-from.html
Interesting. That’s similar to the reasoning I put forth. I hope fervently that you’re right and we’re wrong, but the American public is nothing if not disengaged, and Pennsylvania has a lot of opportunity for creative election counting as we saw in 2020, and huge pots of Democrat votes available.
Jack wrote, “Althouse thinks that nobody will switch votes based on Fetterman’s performance.”
I think Althouse is ignoring that some Democrat voters will likely be completely turned off by Fetterman’s debate performance, and since they can’t vote for anything that doesn’t have a (D) after it they choose not to vote at all.
That, among other things. It’s not like the guy is offering charisma, charm, and a sparkling personality, or a compelling life’s journey, either.
According to Jim Messina of MSNBC, Fetterman might have lost the battle last night, but he still probably wins the war. An independent who was polling about 3% just dropped out and endorsed Fetterman, saying PA must be blue. If he believed that, then why run in the first place?
Well, MSNBC. Anyone who was going to throw their vote away by voting for that guy isn’t going to suddenly be motivated to vote for Lurch. This is called “whistling past the graveyard.”
I think you’re right, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it went the other way.
If Fetterman still wins the election after this “performance”, you know, those mail in ballots that one finds in the backseats and trunks of cars around Philadelphia sure do work their magic. If victorious, I think the new Dem PA governor (more likely than not) will swear in Fetterman’s wife in about 2.5 seconds. Joe Biden kind of let the cat out of the bag when campaigning for FetterWOman the other day, saying how Giselle will be a great lady in the senate. I do hope for some Condign Justice here.
And this is where the law needs to change. If an elected official cannot perform his or her duty to the degree that a replacement must be found, a new election should be held. Offices should not be handed over to unqualified spouses.
Well, in fact that is already the case, basically. That’s why, for example, there were two Senate races in Georgia last time. A replacement senator’s term only last through the next general election, when there is a special election for the balance of the term. So if Fetterman were elected and then replaced, there would be another election in 2024 for that seat.
If a House seat falls vacant, it is filled via a special election — see Alaska’s special election back in August. There are always a handful of special elections for any given Congress, and especially when a new president makes appointments from the House.
I did watch that debate this morning and it was just sad. It was obvious that Fetterman is not up to the job. It sounded like I was listening to a schoolkid. He should have withdrawn back in May when he had the stroke and let his party nominate someone who was capable. If he makes a full recovery, he is not old, he’d have had a chance for future elections — at worst that seat will be up in six years.
But, ambition, hubris, pride, who knows. Now I think his political career will be over with this loss.
Those Democrats love blaming the little people, don’t they? As for the poorly-run teleprompter excuse, it’s the Fetterman campaign narrative that was exposed yesterday in that ridiculous memo. They have contrived a narrative ahead of time to explain Fetterman’s speech problems and will double down on it every time there is an incident.
Of course they did. Lie, treat the general public like idiots, and call your opposition names.
https://thehill.com/opinion/3701952-davis-on-the-crime-issue-the-republicans-are-lying-and-they-know-they-are-lying/
He’s BAAACK! Not particularly germane to the post, other than blatant “it isn’t what it is,” and pure projection, the Clintons’ favorite law school chum and paid liar has been hauled out of wherever he’s been lurking. I guess Jack is right; the Democrats are in full panic mode if they drag out no one other than Lanny Davis his own self. Good to hear from you again, Lanny. Feels like old times. You are ridiculous.
God, what a horrible piece. “BOOM”?
That calls for, “Analyze THIS, Lanny, you insufferable hack.”
When I lived in Philadelphia it was known that the majority of the city’s alderman, at the time, had felony records. Therefore, I would not be shocked if Mr. Fetterman is elected by the illiterati!