When John Fetterman starting running for U.S. Senate, his well-honed image as a political everyman was one of his most powerful assets. He looks and talks more like a blue-collar dude than a stuffy politician, helping make the Democrat with a low-profile day job a quasi-celebrity.
But Republicans, and some Democrats, warned that Fetterman’s image had never been stress-tested in a major election like this one, which could decide control of the Senate.
The latest piece of that vetting landed Thursday with an Associated Press report detailing the light public schedule Fetterman has kept as lieutenant governor. The GOP is pointing to it as more evidence that they say undercuts Fetterman’s working-class reputation.
The AP examined Fetterman’s schedule as LG.
Fetterman’s team called the report “a misleading and inaccurate reflection of John’s actual schedule that totally fails to capture the breadth of his official work and his accomplishments.”
Fetterman didn’t respond to AP interview requests, but said in a statement that he’s “shown I can have an impact beyond the prescribed power of a given office.” He pointed to his work as chair of the state’s Board of Pardons, and building support for LGBTQIA+ rights, union workers, legalized marijuana, and raising the minimum wage.
Republicans say the AP findings build on the argument that Fetterman, contrary to his blue-collar image, hasn’t worked hard. They point out that his job as Braddock mayor also came with few formal responsibilities, and that he relied on his parents’ financial support deep into his 40s while he earned $150-a-month as mayor.
“Clearly ‘working’ is not his thing, and he should go back to living off his parents,” said Brittany Yanick, a spokesperson for Republican candidate Mehmet Oz.
Fetterman has pushed back, saying he passed up a potential career in his family’s insurance business to take lower-paying jobs mentoring young people, aiding families in need, and serving a city that had struggled with economic change. Those jobs, his allies argues, were real hard work, while Oz was building his personal fame.
The story about Fetterman’s schedule might matter because new revelations tend to hit hardest when they fit into a broader pattern that reinforces an existing narrative or undercuts what was once a strong point.
That’s why the infamous “crudité” video from Oz is such a Democratic favorite. A silly campaign moment became part of a bigger picture, aligning with the accusation that Oz is an out-of-touch rich guy just pretending to care about ordinary people.
“I promise you I’m the only candidate in this race that lives directly across from a steel mill,” Fetterman recently told supporters at a rally in Bethlehem, before going into a riff on crudité.
How much has the GOP actually been able to bruise Fetterman? In a new Monmouth University poll, 57% of Pennsylvania voters said the Democrat “understands the concerns of people like you” either some or a great deal. Only 39% said that about Oz.
More people trusted Fetterman on the economy than did Oz, a significant finding since Republicans have typically held an advantage there in public opinion.
Republicans acknowledge Oz’s image was already bruised after a rough GOP primary, but argue he had the benefit of already absorbing many of the hits coming his way. Fetterman emerged from his primary relatively unscathed, but that also meant there was a lot of new information still to come out, and to potentially influence his image.
