If recent polls are anything to go by, Pennsylvania Democratic Senate hopeful John Fetterman may not have his race against Dr. Mehmet Oz as far in the bag as he’s been led to believe. To be fair, given the cognitive issues that Fetterman has been experiencing since suffering a stroke earlier this year, he’s probably been led to believe a lot of things that aren’t true. Oh well.
We’re only a few weeks away from the midterm elections, and what the guy could really use right now is an extra little boost from the liberal media. Thank goodness for New York Magazine, who’s got just what the doctor ordered:
.@JohnFetterman is trying to flip Pennsylvania’s open Senate seat while fending off a celebrity doctor and recovering from a stroke that almost killed him. @rtraister reports https://t.co/Xt5xBoEok3 pic.twitter.com/4I68ZMl1gd
— New York Magazine (@NYMag) October 10, 2022
We’d post an excerpt from the article, but there’s far too much gold in them thar pages. So hopefully New York Magazine’s extensive Twitter thread will give you all the highlights of Rebecca Traister’s masterpiece:
Even before Fetterman became the Democratic nominee for the seat — one of the pivotal few in the Senate that could flip from Republican control — he had attained folkloric stature https://t.co/Xt5xBoEok3
— New York Magazine (@NYMag) October 10, 2022
Fetterman defied the right-wing caricatures of the contemporary left as elite, effete, and out of touch because he was self-evidently none of those things https://t.co/Xt5xBoWxyb
— New York Magazine (@NYMag) October 10, 2022
It’s not exactly that Fetterman was what the Democratic party wanted, but he was perhaps what they needed: the unicorn who could persuasively pitch policies that would make voters’ lives materially better, while conveying that he was one of them https://t.co/Xt5xBoEok3
— New York Magazine (@NYMag) October 10, 2022
Hilarious. Seriously, we’re gasping for air right now.
Then on May 13 he had a stroke. Four days after doctors removed a clot that could have killed him, he won the Democratic primary https://t.co/Xt5xBoWxyb
— New York Magazine (@NYMag) October 10, 2022
Fetterman’s greatest strength — his indestructible guy–ness — was jeopardized, his infirmity seized upon by his Republican opponent, Mehmet Oz, who happens to be a doctor https://t.co/Xt5xBoWxyb
— New York Magazine (@NYMag) October 10, 2022
Fetterman spent much of the summer in recovery. He could not campaign in person, but he launched a social media blitz viciously teasing Oz for being, until very recently, a longtime resident of New Jersey https://t.co/Xt5xBoWxyb
— New York Magazine (@NYMag) October 10, 2022
As summer turned to fall, Fetterman returned to the trail in person, powering through his convalescence at rallies and via television and newspaper interviews, his physical condition visibly improving https://t.co/Xt5xBoEok3
— New York Magazine (@NYMag) October 10, 2022
Narrator: His mental condition, however, was not improving.
But polls have tightened, and attacks from Oz’s camp — as well as a Mitch McConnell–aligned super-PAC — suggesting that Fetterman was weak, both physically and in his approach to crime, have been gaining traction in both the right-wing and mainstream press https://t.co/Xt5xBoEok3
— New York Magazine (@NYMag) October 10, 2022
Media Matters reported that in September the Fox News primetime lineup mentioned Fetterman more than any other candidate, including those in other hotly contested Senate battles, a metric that illustrates how scared Republicans are about losing this race https://t.co/Xt5xBoEok3
— New York Magazine (@NYMag) October 10, 2022
Now, in the final weeks of the race, Fetterman is banking on the hope that voters will see in his vulnerability a new way to appreciate his strength https://t.co/Xt5xBoEok3
— New York Magazine (@NYMag) October 10, 2022
But his vulnerability is cognitive. That’s … not a strength.
.@rtraister reports on how Fetterman’s Senate bid has been tested by skeptical Democrats, contemptuous Republicans, and his own health https://t.co/Xt5xBoWxyb
— New York Magazine (@NYMag) October 10, 2022
Mkay.
https://twitter.com/soirchick/status/1579520862960898048
If only that were the worst aspect of this article. Alas, the whole article is the worst aspect of the this article.
https://twitter.com/Heminator/status/1579504267400212480
You’re a kinder person than we are, Mark. Because we don’t get Fetterman’s appeal at all. Not even a little bit.
oh good grief https://t.co/V0qaaracVA
— cc (@cc_fla) October 10, 2022
“Good grief” is right.
Earlier in this thread for a piece that is blatant PR, NY Magazine refers to the Pennsylvania Senate race as the one with the highest stakes… before criticizing Fox News for covering it more than other races. 31 flavors of stupid. And citing Meda Matters is never a good look… https://t.co/ms3NZPSc5x
— Joe Concha (@JoeConchaTV) October 10, 2022
And the piece also fails to mention that Fetterman has turned almost all interview requests, including from Fox. He’s held zero press conferences, refuses to release his medical records, and will only debate Oz once a full month after early voting began. But besides that…
— Joe Concha (@JoeConchaTV) October 10, 2022
The piece is so incoherently awful, it might as well have been written by John Fetterman himself.
https://twitter.com/AmericanVet1776/status/1579511168175345665
If that’s not white privilege, we don’t know what is. And speaking of privilege:
you have to overlook a lot to think he hasn't led a privileged out of touch life https://t.co/rUkuc8dj0E
— cc (@cc_fla) October 10, 2022
John Fetterman, much like New York Magazine itself, reeks of privilege.
https://twitter.com/cleverhandleguy/status/1579503007204773888
A trust fund baby Harvard grad whose sister sold him a house for a buck – and his top priority is getting people out of prison? Yeah. Nothing elite, effete, or out of touch about those things.
— Luke Thompson (@ltthompso) October 10, 2022
Nothing real about this fake New York Magazine cover, but that doesn’t make it any less accurate:
https://twitter.com/MatthewFoldi/status/1579489319584419840
Shoulda gone with that one, New York Magazine.
Maybe next time.
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