Republican Senator John Heinz died tragically in a plane/helicopter accident in April of 1991. Seven people were killed...among them two young school girls.We were returning from a vacation in Ocean City, Maryland when we heard the news. Democrat Robert Casey temporarily filled his seat with Democrat Harris Wofford until a special election could be held in November. In that election Wofford was at one time down 40 points to Richard Thornburgh....but Paul Begala and James Carville turned that election around....and Wofford won by ten points. That election....even according to Rush Limbaugh....was the beginning of the political strategy that health care was every person's right. Wofford served in the Senate until 1995 when he lost his seat to Republican Rick Santorum.
As everyone is acutely aware....Pennsylvania will soon choose either John Fetterman or Dr. Oz to replace Senator Pat Toomey....(I still have a Toomey For Senate sign originally from 2004 in the attic of my garage.) Fetterman's health and ability to serve a complete term is a question in the race....and showed up last evening in the Fetterman/Oz debate. Pennsylvania's governor race is also in the national news....when at present the Democrat holds a substantial lead. So as it stands now...a Democrat governor would if need be temporarily replace an ill Fetterman....if Fetterman should win.
As for last night's debate....I wasn't going to watch but received a call more than halfway through it telling me that Fetterman was getting trounced....so I tuned in out of curiosity. The debate was sad to watch....to see any man struggle so with words....even John Fetterman. Dr. Oz is a professional talker....and took advantage of that to an extreme. Fetterman could have said that a stroke slowed his already slow speech down....but that Oz could use a little slowing down with his carnival midway barker speech patterns. Oz was forced into saying that he would support Trump in 2024 if he ran....and he also said in response to a question that he hadn't followed the January 6 hearing very closely. Fetterman....former mayor of Braddock....where my father was raised....could have challenged the good doctor's integrity on both of those counts....but most of all....even after the disastrous debate....Fetterman could have won the night on the last question....thrown is as a little bit of humor....where a moderator asked both men....the exact words escape me....who they were rooting for in this weekend's big game....the Steelers vs the Eagles....where had John Fetterman said....speech impaired or not...."my mind is on the people of Pennsylvania and America....and not a football game"....he would have shocked every viewer....forcing them to give him some credit on knowing what was important....and what was not important.
