Mehmet Oz’s ad dismays TV anchor Jim Gardner, while Doug Mastriano’s vision shows ... Russia?

Add this to the short list of hard-and-fast rules for politics in the Philadelphia region: Do not mess with Jim Gardner.

Maybe celebrity television doctor and Republican Senate candidate Mehmet Oz, a newish arrival in Pennsylvania, hasn’t been here long enough to know about the legendary news anchor?

Oz’s latest campaign ad airs a brief clip of Gardner at work on 6ABC, where he has shared “the big story on Action News” nightly since 1977. That clip is side-by-side with video of the Democratic nominee, Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, as Oz criticizes his views on drug policy.

Twitter lit up this week with questions and concerns about Gardner, who is retiring at the end of this year.

Gardner also expressed discomfort.

He responded to one concerned commenter, tweeting: “Legally, we have no control over a candidate’s ad. I’m not okay with it, but there’s nothing I, or the station can do about it.”

Gardner added in a second tweet: “To be clear, I’m totally uncomfortable with being in any political ad, regardless of the candidate, or party, Republican, Democrat, or any other political persuasion.”

Gardner told Clout he thinks this was the first time in his 45 years on air that he has appeared in a campaign ad.

“It’s obviously uncomfortable, to say the least,” he said. “I’m sure some people will assume the spot reflects a preference attributable to me. I’m a registered independent for a reason.”

Bernie Prazenica, 6ABC’s president and general manager, told Clout federal law prohibits the station from censoring or altering an ad from a legally qualified candidate.

The Oz campaign did not respond to Clout’s hails. Oz, who still owns a New Jersey mansion with a Manhattan skyline view and several other homes outside of Pennsylvania, bought his Bryn Athyn home in December 2021, not long after he launched his campaign.

Dunked on as a carpetbagger for months, first by some of the Republicans he defeated in the primary and continuously by Fetterman, Oz on the campaign trail often says he grew up just outside Philadelphia, not far from the Chester County borough of Kennett Square.

That’s code for Wilmington, the Delaware city about 11 miles to the southeast (in a different state). But he went to medical school at the University of Pennsylvania, so Gardner should be a familiar face.

The Fetterman camp once again pounded Oz, with campaign manager Brendan McPhillips calling Gardner “an institution in Philly & Southeastern PA” and noting the longtime newsman’s objection.

“It’s pretty damn clear how out of touch Oz and his entire team are,” McPhillips tweeted. “Just shameful.”

Doug Mastriano has been using what he calls “an inspirational message” — a four-minute video released last week — to drum up donations in his Republican bid for governor in Pennsylvania.

Vowing to “transform Pennsylvania,” the first two minutes focus on claims that the Democratic nominee, state Attorney General Josh Shapiro, has failed at his current job. The next two minutes, with stirring music, zooms in on Mastriano’s vision for the state.

One issue there: The state senator from Franklin County, who has accused Democrats of allowing the outsourcing of jobs to other countries, uses stock footage from videographers in Russia, Poland, and Belarus to show viewers what he wants Pennsylvania to look like.

American Bridge 21st Century, a super PAC that backs progressives, tracked the footage back to Pexels, a German-based stock-photo service.

A clip of a couple playing with a toddler while Mastriano talks about parents making a better country for their kids — that came from Russia.

A clip of a man working in an industrial setting as Mastriano talks about ending employment regulations — that’s from Poland.

A clip of a boy waving to a mother while Mastriano talks about defending the rights of parents in education — that’s from Belarus.

Mastriano, who limits media interactions to fawning TV, radio, and podcast hosts, did not respond when Clout asked for comment.

He started airing his first campaign commercials for the general election this week, with $539,000 in television time booked. Shapiro, who had $31 million committed to air ads since the primary election in May, still has $7.7 million to go in that budget.

Clout told you last week about disunity roiling the Union League of Philadelphia, which planned to give its gold-medal award — first bestowed on President Abraham Lincoln in 1863 — to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis next week.

A lot has happened in Florida since then, with Hurricane Ian cutting a path of deadly destruction across that state.

Clout hears the Union League event, along with a Montgomery County fund-raiser for DeSantis organized by a former congressional colleague, Rep. Keith Rothfus, and University City Housing owner Michael Karp, has been postponed as the Florida governor focuses on storm recovery.

The Union League — motto: The first rule of Union League is you do not talk about Union League — did not respond to requests for comment. But an email to members of the exclusive club, obtained by Clout, said the event will now be Jan. 24.

Clout provides often irreverent news and analysis about people, power, and politics.