PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The U.S. Senate race in Pennsylvania features two candidates who differ on almost every issue. But they also differ from their own earlier views on many topics.
It’s sometimes — derisively — called flip-flopping. A candidate’s changing views on an issue can be a point of attack for opponents, as it was during the Republican primary, when Senate hopeful David McCormick pounced on Mehmet Oz’s evolution on abortion, guns and fracking.
"Now he’s flip-flopping. And the problem, Doctor, is there’s no miracle cure for flip-flopping, and Pennsylvanians are seeing right through your phoniness," McCormick said.
Oz was ultimately the victor in the primary, but he, indeed, has changed his positions — sometimes quite markedly — on Republican litmus-test issues.
Take this argument in favor of red-flag laws for gun sales on his TV show: “We’ll make a system where someone can call in and say, ‘There’s evidence besides my testimony that this person is dangerous. Do a little investigating. I’m alerting you, putting a little red flag in there, saying this person’s a concern.’”
Then look at this, which aired in an ad during the primary: "When people say 'I won’t support guns,' they’re dead wrong."
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Another notable example is Oz’s variety of stances on abortion. In a 2019 interview on The Breakfast Club, he seemed to support a woman’s right to choose.
"At a personal level, I wouldn’t want anyone in my family to have an abortion, but I don’t want to interfere with anyone else’s stuff, because it’s hard enough to get into life as it is," he said.
Oz also rejected the notion of 'heartbeat bills.'
"This whole thing about the heart beating. I mean, there are electrical exchanges at six weeks, but the heart’s not beating," he said.
However, as a Republican U.S. Senate candidate, Oz moved to the right, coming out against abortion with three exceptions — in cases of rape or incest, or to save the mother’s life. In attempting to explain what he had said in the 2019 interview, he seemed to take a much harder anti-abortion stand.
"If life starts at conception, it’s still murder to terminate a child, whether the heart’s beating or not," he said.
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On fracking, Oz once co-authored a wellness column, stating the process pumps toxic chemicals into the ground, possibly contaminating air and water. He specified Pennsylvania as a place where fracking neighbors report breathing problems and other ill health effects.
Now he’s an ardent fracking proponent.
Democrat John Fetterman has not had as many position reversals as Oz, but fracking is the issue on which he has most dramatically shifted. He, too, used to oppose fracking and now favors it, a change that occurred between his 2016 Senate run and his 2018 run for lieutenant governor.
Campaign spokesman Joe Calvello said at a recent rally that Fetterman’s current position is a response to the changes in the industry that he called for in 2016.
"In October 2016, Pennsylvania passed some of the best regulations in the country. So, since then, we believe the regulations have been met. It’s not the wild west like it once was, we shouldn’t be leaving people behind in the fracking industry or telling people to find another job," he said.
Ironically, even though both candidates have gone from fracking skeptics to fans, Oz continues to berate Fetterman for his earlier opposition — citing old quotes about fracking — as though he doesn’t believe it’s possible to change one’s mind about an issue.
Oz’s campaign declined an opportunity to respond to questions for this story.