Op-Ed: John Fetterman Represents Pennsylvania. Mehmet Oz Barely Even Represents the United States.

     Pennsylvania rejected Ms. Barnette immediately, as did Doctor Oz. In a real "leopards ate my face" moment, he claimed that Barnette was unfit for office after she made Islamophobic comments. Who's gonna tell him that the man who endorsed him called for the creation of a Muslim registry, banned Muslims from the United States, and falsely claimed that Muslims in New Jersey, Oz's own state, cheered on 9/11? Anyway, they didn't reject Mr. McCormick as quickly. A legal and PR battle worth several million dollars ensued over the next few weeks before McCormick finally conceded to Oz.

     After 2016, I've learned to stop saying it is impossible for people to win elections. However, between the two, Dr. Oz is the easier to take down. Sure, he can run on "I'm the first Muslim Senate candidate of a major political party," but he and his fellow Trumpublicans have made it clear they want to run on the economy. Seems easy enough. However, John Fetterman is running on the same sort of platform, a progressive one that says the status quo needs to change. People who want to see change are just as likely to vote for him as they are for Fetterman. Loyal Trump voters aren't all in on Oz, with one public appearance resulting in the audience turning and booing and his opponents making sure to refer to him only by his real first name, Mehmet, hoping its foreign sound will turn off white Republicans. That leaves one other aspect for swing voters to look to.

     John Fetterman grew up in Pennsylvania, served as an AmeriCorps volunteer, became the mayor of Braddock, moved up to lieutenant governor under Tom Wolf in 2019, and had a prior run for Senate in 2016. Dr. Oz voted in the Turkish election in 2018, is a Turkish citizen, and resides in New Jersey. Knowing that New Jersey is a very difficult state to become a Republican senator in and Pennsylvania is a swing state with high stakes for the 2022 election, Mehmet Oz decided to raise his own profile by exploiting a loophole and buying a trailer in Pennsylvania. 

     Fetterman has been eager to use this to his advantage, to explain why Dr. Oz is not the man who should spend six years as Pennsylvania's next senator. He roasted Dr. Oz for spending Independence Day with wealthy donors in New York City, roasted him again for visiting Geno's Cheesesteak (which literally appears under the Google search results for "tourist cheesesteak Philadelphia") for an anti-Biden photo op, and even recruited Snooki (of Jersey Shore fame) to make a video asking Oz why he would ever want to leave his lovely home in New Jersey. All joking aside (although I am certain there will be many more to come), one thing is clear: John Fetterman represents Pennsylvania; Mehmet Oz barely even represents the United States.