We sat in on John Fetterman’s endorsement interview. Here’s what he said about Bob Casey, abortion, and inflation.

John Fetterman said he’d emulate Democratic Sen. Bob Casey if he’s elected to the Senate, while distancing himself from both the left and right wings of his party during an interview with The Inquirer’s editorial board Wednesday.

Asked how he’d want his Senate career to be remembered, the lieutenant governor said: “I just fought for Pennsylvania, and I was a champion for forgotten communities and standing up for what’s right.”

However, Fetterman was often vague in describing specific policies or the role he hoped to carve out in the Senate as he spoke for nearly 30 minutes with The Inquirer’s editorial board and two reporters.

The frequently taciturn Fetterman cited his support for raising the minimum wage, for the pro-union PRO Act, and for codifying the federal right to abortion, but other than naming the bills said little else about them, or other areas he hoped to focus on. (He was notably much more expansive later Wednesday in an hour-long livestreamed interview with PennLive’s editorial board.)

Still, Fetterman’s wide-ranging interview with The Inquirer was in sharp contrast to Republican nominee Mehmet Oz, who has been invited for a similar meeting and hasn’t accepted. Oz also refused to speak to The Inquirer editorial board or answer a policy questionnaire during the GOP primary. When he has taken questions, Oz has often been evasive on key issues.

» READ MORE: Big personalities, scant policies in Pa.'s Senate race

The editorial board, which runs The Inquirer’s opinion pages and decides endorsements, operates independently from the newsroom. Newsroom editors and reporters (including the ones who attended Wednesday’s meeting) have no role in endorsements, and opinion staffers have no role in news coverage.

Here are some of the issues Fetterman discussed with The Inquirer:

Fetterman’s campaign — like Oz’s — has heavily concentrated on personality.

Asked Wednesday what areas he would be most passionate about or committees he’d serve on, Fetterman answered he’s concentrating on the election.

“I’m not here to pick out paint colors or anything like that,” he said. “It’s more important to just be focused on running and winning the race.”

But he said Casey was one of many senators he admires, pointing to a long-serving Democrat who has won commanding reelections.

“If Pennsylvanians are pleased with Bob Casey, then that’s the kind of person I would want to be mentored by, and that’s the kind of example I would like to be,” Fetterman said.

Asked if he considered himself a “Democratic Socialist” in the mold of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) Fetterman’s entire answer was: “Never. Never.”

Fetterman actively supported Sanders’ 2016 presidential campaign, though he didn’t endorse anyone in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary.

Asked about a new bill he’d want to introduce, Fetterman said he “wouldn’t be like a Joe Manchin type,” citing the West Virginia Democrat who has blocked many of his party’s biggest ambitions. He promised to support proposals that have been stymied, including those on the minimum wage, abortion rights, and labor unions

“I’m not criticizing Joe Manchin. ... I’d want to be the 51st voter to support those kinds of critical bills that we were unable to pass,” he said.

As for the Supreme Court, he said he would want to see nominees who support abortion rights, “the union way of life,” and “getting money out of politics.”

And on inflation, Fetterman said he’d call out “corporate greed” and called for more manufacturing in Pennsylvania and the U.S.

» READ MORE: Control of the Senate paved the way for the Supreme Court’s abortion decision. It’s also at stake in Pa.’s Senate race.

Asked if he thought he prioritized Philadelphia enough during his campaign, Fetterman pointed to several recent stops, including a rally last month.

”I was the only candidate in this race that had a giant rally here in Philadelphia — over 600 people showed up for it — and I’ve been in Philadelphia countless times,” he said.

(Oz has made repeated campaign stops in deeply Democratic Philadelphia, too, though they are often smaller events.)

» READ MORE: John Fetterman rallied in Philly, his first public event in the city

He said he’d support an end to the Senate filibuster, the rule requiring a super-majority for most major legislation, to help pass tougher gun laws.

His main answer for how he’d help Philadelphia was that he’d be more accessible than Sen. Pat Toomey (R., Pa.). Fetterman also pointed to his 13 years as mayor of Braddock, a majority-Black town of 2,000.

”I understand — I think a unique perspective, you know, as a mayor of albeit a small community — and would be very active and be very visible,” he said.

Fetterman’s candidacy has been shadowed by the 2013 incident in which he grabbed a shotgun and chased down a Black jogger whom he incorrectly suspected of a shooting.

Asked what he learned from the incident, Fetterman largely repeated answers he has long given, but with a slightly different caveat: He said he wouldn’t do the same thing again today, because he’s no longer the mayor.

”It was a decision I made in a split second to protect the community as the chief law enforcement officer,” he said, adding later, “It’s not something that I would repeat simply because right now I’m not in that kind of a role.”

He also said Wednesday, as he has in the past, that he didn’t consider it an example of racial profiling.

» READ MORE: Everything to know about the 2013 John Fetterman jogger incident

“I understand there’s history in Black and brown communities of profiling, but this ... was simply an individual that had a mask, and I wasn’t aware of anything about it other than he was the only individual running from the gunfire.”

The interview came a day after NBC aired a sit-down interview with Fetterman that focused on his stroke and recovery.

Fetterman, who said he continues to heal, spoke to the editorial board from his home in Braddock via Google Meet and used closed captioning to read questions, as he often does due to auditory processing difficulties related to his stroke.

”There’s no guarantee on what the — if I’ll ever get to be 100% — but I have been able to be functioning and giving an interview with you today or getting up in front of 3,000 people,” he said. “To me, I think that’s the ultimate transparency.”