John Fetterman flew a plane over the Jersey Shore to troll Mehmet Oz in the Pa. Senate race
Fetterman has used viral videos, sarcastic tweets and ads to drive his message as he recovers from a stroke, while Republican Mehmet Oz has held dozens of campaign events around Pennsylvania.
The Jersey Shore is an odd place to advertise if you’re running for office in Pennsylvania, but that’s what Lt. Gov. John Fetterman did last weekend.
The Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate hired a plane to fly a banner over weekend beachgoers, taunting Republican rival Mehmet Oz with the message: HEY DR. OZ, WELCOME HOME TO NJ! ♥ JOHN.
It’s all part of two central elements of the Fetterman campaign so far: Paint Oz as a phony who doesn’t belong in Pennsylvania, much less care about regular people, and spark viral moments that can keep the LG in the conversation while he’s out of the public eye, recovering from his stroke in mid-May.
Fetterman has used viral videos, sarcastic tweets, and television ads to drive his message as he closes in on two months since his last public event. When the Daily Beast headlined a story “Could John Fetterman S—post his way to the Senate,” Fetterman tweeted, “I mean we sure are trying.”
» READ MORE: With sarcastic tweets, a ‘missing’ poster, and an airplane banner, Fetterman and Oz try to shape the Pa. Senate race
Fetterman has long used a sardonic social media presence as a core part of his political identity, including not just his policy and political arguments, but posts about his dogs, the superiority of his wife, Gisele, and Sheetz vs. Wawa schtick.
His unvarnished feeds and plainspoken style (his latest TV ad is titled “Dude”) are part of how Fetterman presents himself as an earthy guy from Braddock, while casting Oz as an ultra-wealthy opportunist who only came to Pennsylvania to run for Senate after living in New Jersey for more than 30 years. (The GOP primary gave Fetterman a head start in that regard, because Oz’s Republican rivals spent some $20 million on TV branding the celebrity doctor as a fake conservative, bruising his image before he even won the nomination).
But how far can viral videos really go?
They may help cement personal impressions of the two candidates — which can sway voters as much as policy positions — and give Fetterman a sense of activity while he’s not physically campaigning. But the Twitter bubble has repeatedly been shown to be a poor substitute for actual voters, especially in a closely divided state like Pennsylvania.
And while Fetterman goes viral, Oz’s camp points out that he has been out meeting voters, with more than 40 public events since securing the GOP nomination in June. They’ve begun asking when Fetterman will actually get out to speak with a wider swath of voters, and not just those supporters who love to retweet his Twitter dunks.
“John Fetterman can go on vacation and create advertisements, but he hasn’t met with voters in weeks,” said Oz spokesperson Brittany Yanick. “He’s been completely missing from the campaign trail.”
The Oz campaign argues that ordinary Pennsylvanians are much more concerned about inflation and President Joe Biden’s agenda than they are with Fetterman’s stunts. They’ve painted Fetterman as a radical liberal who would only make economic problems worse.
(They’ve also noted that Fetterman was spotted at the Jersey Shore himself in June. Fetterman’s campaign said his family has long vacationed there, but doesn’t own property out of state, unlike Oz.)
Fetterman took a step toward real-life campaigning Saturday with a surprise appearance to visit Democratic volunteers in Pittsburgh, telling them he’ll be back on the trail “soon.” His campaign, of course, announced it on Twitter, with a smiling hearts emoji.