PENNSBURG, Pa.—In one of the nation’s most-watched contests this election season, Pennsylvania’s two candidates for the U.S. Senate held Election Eve rallies to “get out the vote” at opposite ends of the state—symbolic of how far apart they feel in the current political environment.
During his final campaign stop before the Nov. 8 general election, Republican candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz and his supporters underscored the contrast between his vision for America’s future and that of his Democratic opponent John Fetterman.
Both camps see voter turnout as key, considering that pre-election polls showed the two candidates in a statistical dead heat.
Oz said that Fetterman, current lieutenant governor and former mayor of a small town, takes too many “extreme radical positions,” including legalizing drugs and pardoning criminals with violent records.
In contrast, Oz said a police union voted unanimously to support him, demonstrating confidence in his commitment to support professional crimefighters.
“There’s no greater example of two people that different, running for the Senate,” Oz declared to about 1,500 supporters who gathered in the chilly weather under a full moon.
The crowd filled a fenced-in area to capacity at the Haines Estate, a historic property in a rural section of Montgomery County, in the eastern Pennsylvania community where Oz lives.
Members of the Hindu community have embraced Oz, says Yagnesh Choski, 69, of Bensalem. President of the South Asian Republican Coalition, Choski is a native of India who came with about 25 other Hindu men carrying signs in support of Oz and former President Donald Trump. Some carried signs saying, “Hindus Love Trump’s Economic Miracle” and “Hindus (Heart) Trump.”
Work vs. Woke
A number of Republican heavy hitters spoke on Oz’s behalf, including Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel and Nikki Haley, former governor of South Carolina and the ex-U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
Stacy Garrity, Pennsylvania’s treasurer, criticized Fetterman for missing one-third of his workdays as lieutenant governor, adding that “when he did show up, he worked four hours a day ... and that’s when his health was good.”
Fetterman’s health became an issue in the campaign after he suffered a major stroke in May; he has had difficulty with speech since then.
After he stumbled over words during in an Oct. 25 debate with Oz, Fetterman’s poll numbers dropped as concerns intensified over his ability to function in the Senate.
Health issues aside, Garrity drew these contrasts between the two candidates: “John Fetterman cares about ‘woke;’ Dr. Oz cares about work. John Fetterman wants safe spaces; Dr. Oz wants safe neighborhoods. John Fetterman wants green energy; Dr. Oz wants affordable energy.”
‘I Used to Be a Democrat’
Meanwhile, Fetterman held a rally in Pittsburgh and sent out a late-night Twitter poast reminding voters to keep this in mind as they head out to cast their ballots: “I’m born + raised in PA—proud to call this place home.”
Fetterman has criticized Oz as a longtime New Jersian who is out of touch with Pennsylvanians.
Fetterman’s hometown newspaper, The York Dispatch, wrote in its Nov. 6 endorsement of Fetterman, “Oz has failed to demonstrate a connection with, or understanding of, Pennsylvania, its issues or its citizens.”
But Charlene Szabo and Sheila Carminito, who sat in folding chairs at the rally in Pennsburg, said Oz resonates with them on virtually every issue. “I don’t like the direction the country is going,” said Carminito, adding, “I used to be a Democrat, but I’m voting Republican.”
Szabo also said she appreciated seeing how hard Oz worked on the campaign trail. “He’s a very smart man and very capable of doing the job,” she said.
Diagnosis: Washington Causes Ills
Oz, a heart surgeon who became a TV celebrity, says he has traveled all four corners of Pennsylvania, repeatedly, to listen to the people and “diagnose” the problems plaguing the state, like a good doctor would.
And here’s what Oz heard.
In Erie, he talked to a young couple who couldn’t make a down payment on a house “because the mortgage rates have jacked up so high,” he said.
In Pittsburgh, people told him they’re worried about the deadly drug, fentanyl, “showing up in their mailbox,” Oz said.
In Scranton, senior citizens said their Social Security checks “just don’t stretch that far anymore, with runaway inflation.”
“And down in Philly, families don’t let their kids go outside anymore because there’s too much crime,” Oz said.
In all four of these cases, failed extremist Washington policies are to blame, Oz said.
The American Dream
Nikki Haley said that she and Oz, as children of immigrants, both feel a special appreciation for America.
“The love of country ... the fact that your parents raised you to give back because of how blessed you are,” she said. “He came from nothing and he made himself something because only in America can that have happened.”
She accused Democrats of dividing our nation: “We are a country of freedom-loving patriots, who know that it’s time to right the ship ... And ladies and gentlemen, in Pennsylvania, you’re not just righting the ship for your state, you’re getting ready to right the ship for our country.”
Haley urged each person to contact 10 people and help get them out to vote. “It’s all about turnout,” she said.
“And we have to have more America-loving people turnout than the extremists, and I know we can do it because I know we love America.”
“And after tomorrow,” she said, “you’re gonna see it’s the beginning of getting America back where we’re supposed to be, which is the best country in the world.”
