The two major candidates for Pennsylvania’s open Senate seat stepped onto the debate stage in Harrisburg having something to prove.
Democratic Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman needed to prove that he could do the job after he suffered a stroke back in May.
Retired surgeon and television host Mehmet Oz, a political neophyte endorsed by former president Donald Trump, needed to show he could actually have a grasp on the issues in Washington and address policy questions head on.
Here are our main takeaways from the debate:
Fetterman tries to show he can do the job
Before the debate started, the Fetterman campaign sent out a memo lowering expectations, noting how he did not perform well during primary debates. As a result, Mr Fetterman’s primary goal was to exceed expectations.
At the beginning of the debate, Mr Fetterman addressed the fact that he had a stroke back in May and that he struggles with auditory processing. As a result, he required using closed captioning.
“Let's also talk about the elephant in the room. I had a stroke. He's never let me forget that. And I might miss some words during this debate, which two words together, but it knocked me down and then I'm going to keep coming back up,” he said at the beginning of the debate.
At times, Mr Fetterman had delayed responses while reading responses and sometimes missed a few words. Similarly, he was asked about whether he was fit to do the job by moderators and why he was not fully transparent with his medical records.
“I believe if my doctor believes that I'm fit to serve, and that's what I believe is appropriate,” he said. “And I believe that, again, my doctors, the real doctors, that I believe they all believe that I'm ready to be served.”
Oz dodges questions
Throughout the debate, Dr Oz frequently tried to divert whenever he was asked about a number of issues. When asked about the minimum wage, he diverted and did not directly respond about whether he’d support a federal law.
“I think market forces have already driven up the minimum wage,” he said.
Similarly, when he was asked about whether he would support Senator Lindsey Graham’s 15-week abortion ban, he never fully addressed the question.
“I'll give you a bigger answer. I am not going to support federal federal rules that block the ability of states to do what they wish to do,” he said.
Similarly, he avoided saying out from the gate whether he supported a federal ban on abortion.
“I want women, doctors, local political leaders, letting the democracy that's always allowed our nation to thrive to put the best ideas forward so states can decide for themselves,” he said.
Personal insults fly throughout the debate
Mr Fetterman and Dr Oz have run one of the most intensely personal and bitter campaigns. Mr Fetterman began his opening statement by talking about the so-called Oz rule: “If he's on TV, he's lying.”
“He did that during his career on his TV show. He's done that during his campaign about lying about our record here and he's also lying probably during this debate,” Mr Fetterman said.
Similarly, Dr Oz invoked Mr Fetterman’s past and called him a freeloader who lived off his parents’ wealth.
“But John Fetterman thinks the minimum wage is his weekly allowance from his parents,” he said. “He's not really as cognizant of the real challenges of business owners who got the balance that with employees.”
Oz tries going for the centre – while bear-hugging Trump
Throughout the debate, Dr Oz tried to paint himself as a moderate, dodging questions that might make him seem too extreme for the swing state of Pennsylvania.
“I'm running for the US Senate because Washington keeps getting it wrong with extreme positions,” he said. “I want to bring civility, balance all the things that you want to see because you've been telling it to me on the campaign trail.”
He lambasted Mr Fetterman for being an extremist on crime, fracking and healthcare, citing his rival’s erstwhile support for Senator Bernie Sanders.
“John Fetterman, however, cannot go to Washington and work with the other side because he just didn't get along with his own side,” he said. “He criticized Joe Biden for not spending enough money and not sidling up close enough to Bernie Sanders.”
However, when asked about his support for former president Donald Trump, who has supported him, he said he would support a 2024 run by the man who endorsed him.
“I would support Donald Trump if he decided to run for president in 2024,” he said. “But this is bigger than one candidate. This is a much bigger story about how we're going to build a bigger tent to let more Americans feel safe.”
Throughout the Trump presidency, Republicans bled support in suburbs of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh specifically because suburban voters, particularly suburban women, found Mr Trump repulsive. While Dr Oz had little option but to get behind the person who endorsed him and saved his candidacy, that might make some voters skeptical about supporting him.
Will public opinion about Fetterman change after the debate?
Ahead of the debate, a CBS/YouGov poll showed that 55 per cent of registered voters in Pennsylvania said that Mr Fetterman was healthy enough to serve. But that number was down by four points from September. Mr Fetterman was always going to be caught in a predicament once he suffered his stroke: If he avoided a debate, he was seen as avoiding a basic responsibility of the job, but if he took the stage, he would likely be judged on his overall performance and perceived fitness for office.
Mr Fetterman tried to frame the stroke as way of showing that he empathised with other voters, saying “it knocked me down and then I'm going to keep coming back up. And this campaign is all about to me is about fighting for everyone in Pennsylvania that ever got knocked down, that needs to get back up.”
The question now is how voters will receive it. Roughly one in four Americans have a disability and they might empathise with him, or they might have reservations about him while he is still recovering.
