Dr Oz and John Fetterman squared off in their 1st and only debate in their quest to win the open Senate seat in Pennsylvania. Neither candidate had a particularly good debate. That wasn’t surprising for Fetterman, who is recovering from a stroke he suffered before the primary earlier in the year. Oz, on the other hand, is a polished TV personality, and was expected to do well.
Dr Oz has come under fire during the campaign on several fronts. That began with the fact that Oz really doesn’t have much to do with Pennsylvania aside from wanting to claim the Senate seat for Trump, who has endorsed Oz, and the Republican party. Also under scrutiny is the fact that Oz’s loyalties seem to lie somewhere between the nation of Turkey, to which Oz still holds citizenship and chose to serve in their military and not The United States. He owns many mansions and properties spread out between New Jersey, Florida, and Turkey, among other places.
Add to that, recent revelations that Oz was involved in research that tortured and killed puppies. That is on top of the fact that Oz spent much of his TV time selling “miracle cures” for various ailments that the doctor had to admit weren’t the “miracle cures” he said they were when he made millions upon millions from his viewers.
All of that may pale in comparison to an unforced error that Dr Oz made in the debate. On the subject of abortion, Oz spent much of his time trying to distance himself from hardline positions he took in the primary in order to appeal to the base of the GOP. But then, Oz said something that shocked a lot of viewers.
Oz declared that there were 3 entities that belonged in the room when a woman is with her doctor. The woman, the doctor, and “local political leaders.”
While there is no formal polling on the matter, it is pretty safe to assume that most women wouldn’t be comfortable with the scrutiny of “local political leaders” looking over their OB/GYN’s shoulder to make sure they aren’t doing anything those government officials might not like.
Even of Oz meant what he said in a more figurative vs literal context, the statement certainly will not sit well with pro-choice women and men. It is obvious that Oz still has the extreme right-wing views that he did in the primary. On top of that, the sentiments he expressed mirror the position of the Republican Party where lawmakers in both state and national legislatures have been busy drafting bills that would ban abortion, often without even exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of the mother.
So, it seems the GOP and Dr Oz are in lock step in wanting government involved in decisions that most Americans feel should be exclusively made between a woman and her doctor.
Both Oz and Fetterman found themselves distancing themselves from past statements on the issue of fracking. Both candidates have made statements in the past that were decidedly “anti-fracking” and both of them scrambled to assure Pennsylvanians that they now support the development of oil and natural gas in the state of Pennsylvania, which is one of the largest energy producers in the nation.
Fetterman expressed his support for a 15 dollar an hour minimum wage while Oz thinks that 7.25 is adequate and benevolent “free market” forces will take care of the rest.
Most people gave Fetterman a pass for some of his “stumbles” in speaking at the debate. In fact, at the beginning, Fetterman “apologized in advance” for any speech stumbles he would make — like using the wrong word or “mashing” 2 words together. He would go on to do so in answering some of the questions. But, as even his opponent, Dr Oz knows, that deficiency is temporary and has no effect on Fetterman’s abilities to think and comprehend any issue before him.
But that wasn’t Fetterman’s only errors. He struggled when asked about releasing full medical records in regard to his stroke. Something that would only serve as fodder for his opponent and outside groups. Bottom line, Fetterman won’t be releasing any more than he has released already.
On the plus side, Fetterman did explain how he got into some tax trouble in the past. The issue, which has been amplified in the campaign, without much context, came up in the debate. Fetterman explained it happened because Fetterman helped some folks obtain housing and funded the down payments. There was no “profit motive” but rather a charitable one.
At the end of the debate, it was safe to say that neither candidate helped themself very much. In less than 2 weeks, voters will have the final say on who they want to represent their state in the US Senate.
