All eyes were on Pa. for Fetterman-Oz debate, with control of US Senate at stake

PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio, AP) — With control of the U.S. Senate at stake, all eyes were on Pennsylvania on Tuesday night for the one and only debate between Democrat John Fetterman and Republican Mehmet Oz. The two candidates went after each other almost as ferociously as they do in TV ads and social media.

Democrat John Fetterman was first out of the gate, with a putdown encapsulating his charge that Oz is out of touch and from out of state, attacking his “gigantic mansions” and his integrity: “I'm running to serve Pennsylvania. He's running to use Pennsylvania.”

Oz returned fire with his favorite line of attack — that Fetterman is too extreme for Pennsylvania. In particular, he attacked Fetterman's policies on crime: “John Fetterman, during this crime wave, has been trying to get as many criminals out of jail as possible.”

The candidates fell into a pattern, right from the start, each man expressing his view on the question topic — often rather than directly answering the question itself — and then pivoting to a criticism of his opponent.

Fetterman, when asked about his qualifications for the Senate, offered up what he called the "Oz rule" — “He’s on TV, and he’s lying."

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Oz, asked about pitching dubious products on his TV show, wound it back to Fetterman: “There's no way to defend what Fetterman has done with socialized medicine. That is a radical departure from what we in America have accepted.”

The candidates answered — and evaded — questions on the economy, abortion, fracking, foreign affairs, health care and college affordability.

A Fetterman campaign spokesman said he was "thrilled" with the candidate’s "strong performance."

“He won countless exchanges. Counter punched. He withstood Oz’s cruel and, frankly, sleazy attacks. And honestly, this was a great debate for John,” said Joe Calvello.

He added that the Democrat "may not have pronounced every word correctly, but Oz had the biggest gaffe of the night," pointing to the Republican’s statement that "local political leaders" should determine a woman's right to an abortion.

Fetterman supporter State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta tweeted out an image of Doug Mastriano, the Republican candidate for Pennsylvania governor and a staunch opponent of abortion, saying that "this is the local political leader Dr. Oz thinks should decide whether women can get an abortion."

But Oz's campaign also declared victory.

“We saw, tonight, a debate that was a complete disaster for John Fetterman,” said Barney Keller with the Oz team. “He wasn’t able to defend any of his radical positions tonight, and it really showed.”

KYW special contributor Larry Kane shared some of his observations.

“In the big picture, Oz certainly won the battle — but the war? It's hard to say how this is going to play out," Kane said.

"John Fetterman had a stroke, and stroke victims have problems getting the words out. Oz was smooth and clear. But he didn't sound like a Trump Republican. He's moved far to the middle."

Retiring Republican Pat Toomey, whose soon-to-be-vacant Senate seat both men are fighting for, tweeted, “It’s sad to see John Fetterman struggling so much. He should take more time to allow himself to fully recover.”

Clearly there was intense interest in how 53-year-old Fetterman would manage an auditory processing disability. Fetterman acknowledged that he “almost died" after suffering a stroke in May and tried to temper expectations by addressing it early in the debate.

“Let's also talk about the elephant in the room. I had a stroke,” the lieutenant governor said, “and I might miss some words during this debate, mush two words together — but it knocked me down and I’m going to keep coming back up.”

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Fetterman did visibly struggle throughout the debate, as he warned his audience he would because of his continuing stroke recovery. Speech challenges were apparent throughout the night. He often struggled to complete sentences.

When pressed to explain his shifting position on fracking, his answer was particularly awkward: “I do support fracking and I do support fracking.”

But he tried to turn it to his advantage, promising to fight for anyone in Pennsylvania who has been knocked down and needs to get back up.

When pressed Tuesday night, Fetterman refused to say he would release his full medical records during the Tuesday-night forum, insisting that he is prepared for the demands of the Senate as he continues to recover.

“For me, transparency is about showing up,” he said.

Last week he released a note from his primary care physician, who wrote that Fetterman is recovering well, shows no cognitive effects and “can work full duty in public office.”

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Independent experts consulted by The Associated Press said he appears to be recovering remarkably well. He used closed-captioning during the debate to help him process the words he hears.

Stroke rehabilitation specialist Dr. Sonia Sheth, who watched the debate, called Fetterman an inspiration to stroke survivors.

“In my opinion, he did very well,” said Sheth of Northwestern Medicine Marianjoy Rehabilitation Hospital in suburban Chicago. “He had his stroke less than one year ago and will continue to recover over the next year. He had some errors in his responses, but overall he was able to formulate fluent, thoughtful answers.”

Problems with auditory processing do not mean someone also has cognitive problems, the experts agreed. The brain’s language network is different from regions involved in decision making and critical thinking.

While debates have rarely swayed elections in the modern era, the intense national interest in the primetime affair — particularly in Fetterman’s performance — suggested this debate could prove decisive in an election central to the Democrats’ urgent fight to retain their Senate majority.

For Democrats, there is no better pickup opportunity in the U.S. than the race to replace retiring Republican Sen. Pat Toomey in a state Biden narrowly carried in 2020.

Polling shows Fetterman with a slight lead.

For much of the year, it looked as if Fetterman was the clear favorite, especially as Republicans waged a nasty nomination battle that left the GOP divided and bitter. But as Election Day nears, the race has gotten tighter as Republicans solidify their support for Oz.

And now, just two weeks before the final votes are cast, even the White House is privately concerned that Fetterman’s candidacy is at risk.

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Voting is already well underway across the state. As of Tuesday, 639,000 votes had already been cast.

“The debate looms very large, bigger than usual for a Senate debate,” said Republican activist Charles Gerow, a veteran of two decades of Sunday TV political talk shows.

The Pennsylvania Senate hopefuls faced each other inside a Harrisburg television studio. No audience was allowed, and the debate host, Nexstar Media, declined to allow an AP photographer access to the event.

The meeting was the first and only major statewide debate this year in Pennsylvania, since Democrat Josh Shapiro and Republican Doug Mastriano couldn’t reach an agreement on terms for a gubernatorial debate.

Fetterman is a star in progressive politics nationwide, having developed a loyal following thanks in part to his blunt working-class appeal, extraordinary height, tattoos and unapologetic progressive policies. On Tuesday, the 6-foot-9-inch Democrat swapped his trademark hoodie and shorts for a dark suit and tie.

But Fetterman's physical and mental strength have emerged as a central issue over the election's final weeks, even as candidates elsewhere clash over issues like abortion, crime and inflation. Fetterman’s campaign insists he is healthier than ever now that he is paying closer attention to his diet and daily exercise regimen of walking several miles a day. He is participating in regular sessions with a speech therapist and taking medication.

Oz had pushed for more than a half-dozen debates, suggesting that Fetterman's unwillingness to agree to more than one is because the stroke had debilitated him. Fetterman insisted that one debate is typical — although two is more customary — and that Oz's focus on debates was a cynical ploy to lie about his health.

Democrats noted that the televised debate setting likely would have favored Oz even without questions about the stroke.

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Oz is a longtime television personality who hosted “The Dr. Oz Show” weekdays for 13 seasons after getting his start as a regular guest on Oprah Winfrey’s show in 2004. Fetterman, by contrast, is a less practiced public speaker who is introverted by nature.

“This was always going to be an away game for John Fetterman,” said Mustafa Rashed, a Democratic political consultant based in Philadelphia.

Fetterman asked for, and was granted, a closed-captioning system for the debate that displayed in writing everything said on a large screen behind the moderators.

The Fetterman campaign said in a memo ahead of the debate that the closed captioning would be “typed out by human beings in real time, on live TV,” warning that it could lead to time delays, transcription errors and miscommunication. “It is impossible to control and unavoidable,” the memo said.

Abortion was a major dividing line during the debate.

Oz insists he supports three exceptions — for rape, incest and to protect the life of the mother. When pressed on Tuesday night, he suggested he opposes South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham’s bill to impose a nationwide ban on abortion after 15 weeks because it would allow the federal government to dictate the law to states.

“I’m not going to support federal rules that block the ability of states to do what they wish to do,” Oz said.

Fetterman said he would vote for Democrats’ legislation in Congress to allow abortion for up to 24 weeks of pregnancy. He also has said separately that he does not support imposing restrictions on abortion and prefers to leave it to women to decide.

“I want to look into the face of every woman in Pennsylvania: If you believe the choice of your reproductive freedom belongs with Dr. Oz that’s your choice. But if you believe that the choice for abortion belongs with you and your doctor, that’s what I fight for,” Fetterman said.

Fetterman also raised questions about Oz’s residency, which has been a consistent theme throughout the campaign.

For much of the year, Fetterman has seized on Oz’s tenuous connections to the state in witty social media posts and media campaigns.

Oz was born in Ohio, was raised in Delaware and has lived in New Jersey for decades. In 2020, People magazine ran a feature on the New Jersey mansion that Oz and his wife Lisa “built from scratch 20 years ago.”

Later that year, Oz formally adopted a Pennsylvania address. And the next year, 2021, he launched his Senate campaign.