Pennsylvania Senate Debate: How Will Dr. Oz Be An Awful Dick To John Fetterman?

Not 'Will he;' that's kind of a given.

Tonight's the big debate between New Jersey TV snake oil merchant Mehmet Oz (R-New Jersey), who's travelling to Pennsylvania to run for US Senate, and John Fetterman (D-Pennsylvania). This will be the sole head-to-head meeting of the two candidates, although Oz had earlier called for seven debates, which is the sort of thing candidates do when they believe they're well behind. During the summer, Fetterman led Oz in polling by as much as 11 points.

If only that had remained the case! Thanks to enormous outlays of outside cash — GOP groups have spent $6.2 million in the race — the polling has gotten close, with Fetterman leading Oz by just 2.3 points in the latest FiveThirtyEight polling average .

To accommodate for auditory processing issues resulting from a stroke earlier this year, Fetterman will be using a closed captioning screen during the debate; his doctor has cleared him to return to "work full duty in public office," stating Fetterman "speaks without cognitive deficits." it remains to be seen how much of a shit Oz may be regarding the closed captioning system and Fetterman's health. As a doctor who plays a doctor on TV, Oz is expected to have a built-in TV advantage according to two top aides:

Fetterman "is a unique candidate with a strong personal brand that transcends partisanship," wrote Rebecca Katz, a senior adviser, and Brendan McPhillips, the campaign manager. "That's what voters are going to see on the debate stage, and it's why John is going to win this race – even if he doesn't win the debate."

"John has had a remarkable recovery, but the ongoing auditory processing challenges are real," they added. "But he'll be open and upfront about those challenges, just like he has been in interviews and at rallies for the past few months."

While national media dutifully point out that neurologists agree that stroke survivors' language issues don't indicate cognitive problems, don't be too surprised if Oz or campaign operatives try to insist Fetterman may not to be up to the job. Kind of rich coming from the party of intellectuals like Tommy Tuberville and Ron Johnson, but that's politics.

One other development today: Independent write-in candidate Everett Stern dropped out this afternoon and called on his supporters (he says he was polling at about three percent) to support Fetterman, for the sake of keeping democracy safe. So that's a thing. Or not.

The debate isscheduled for 8: 00 Eastern.

Update: Autoplay video removed so it will bedevil us no more.

if we can't, you can watch the livestream at WHTM-TV 

ALSO TOO!

Other Debates tonight: At 7:00 Eastern, we have a second Colorado Gubernatorial debate between incumbent Gov. Jared Polis (D) and crazy cat lady Heidi Ganahl. That will be followed at 8 Eastern, on the same feed, by a third debate for US Senate between US Sen. Michael Bennet (D) and challenger Joe O'Dea, although we plan to be watching Fetterman/Oz instead. here's the YouTube for both.

 youtu.be 

Also ALSO TOO

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) will debate icky Lee Zeldin (R) at 7 Eastern, but as far as we can tell that's only being carried on "TV," so if you get NY1, you're good.

And in Michigan, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) will be in a third debate against Tudor Dixon (R) also at 7: 00 Eastern, that debate will be livestreamed at WXYZ in Detroit. Since we have a nice well-behaved YouTube for the Colorado debate already, we won't attempt to embed it here, but feel free to talk about it in the comments.

Tune In Tomorrow

We have two more big debates this week: Wednesday at 11:00 Eastern (I know!) we'll have the debate for Alaska's sole House seat, with Rep. Mary Peltola (D) facing Republicans Joe Begich and Sarah Palin, who won't go away.

then Thursday, also at 11: 00 Eastern, it'll be the Alaska Senate debate, with incumbent Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski debating a bunch of other Republicans you've never heard of. What a nutty state!

As before, when the Fetterman-Oz debate's over, your Open Thread will once more be Evan's Charlie Kirk story , and I will do things that will direct you there.

[ CNBC / ABC News / FiveThirtyEight ]

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