With sarcastic tweets, a ‘missing’ poster, and an airplane banner, Fetterman and Oz try to shape the Pa. Senate race

When Mehmet Oz went to the Hamptons over the July Fourth weekend for a glitzy party with famous guests dressed all in white, John Fetterman made sure his supporters knew about it.

“I dare this dude to stay in Pennsylvania for like, one day,” said a fund-raising message from Fetterman, Pennsylvania’s Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate. He attached an eye-roll emoji and a request for $5 donations.

Republicans have countered Fetterman’s cutting sarcasm with videos and emails reminding voters of the Democrat’s past praise for liberal Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.), and a fake “missing” poster that digs at the lieutenant governor for being off the campaign trail since his stroke in May.

The GOP’s Senate campaign arm said it shared the poster “in hopes he can be found so he can find some time to hear from Pennsylvanians about their struggles thanks to the Fetterman-Biden agenda.”

As sun, heat, and vacations take hold of the summer, the two candidates are working feverishly to plant damning images in voters’ minds, attempting to lay the foundations for more intense campaigning in the fall.

While the winner of the Senate race could help steer major policy questions on government aid, spending, abortion, energy policy, and climate change, the early sparring has focused on a more intangible question: Whom can voters trust? Whom do they relate to?

Both candidates begin with well-known profiles, but also major hindrances.

Oz, the celebrity surgeon nationally known as “Dr. Oz,” is practically a household name, with almost 4 million Twitter followers, and polished showmanship. But he only narrowly won the Republican primary in a recount and, polls suggest, is still viewed negatively by a wide swath of voters, including some in his own party, in part because of his longtime residency in North Jersey.

» READ MORE: Mehmet Oz is a top Senate candidate in Pennsylvania. What are his ties to the state?

Fetterman isn’t as widely famous but has long been something of a political celebrity, known for his rough-hewn looks, his ties to the struggling steel town Braddock, and an unfiltered style. But because of his stroke, he hasn’t held a formal public event since before the May 17 primary, though on Saturday he made an unannounced visit to see volunteers in Pittsburgh.

The race is one of the most consequential of this year’s midterms. The winner could decide control of the Senate, and with it, potentially, the course of national policy, President Joe Biden’s agenda, and, if there’s a vacancy, the Supreme Court.

Fetterman has hammered Oz as an inauthentic outsider — playing up the TV personality’s celebrity status, vast wealth, and decades living in a New Jersey mansion before moving to Pennsylvania in late 2020.

After Oz tweeted a video criticizing Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney, Fetterman blasted out a viral tweet pointing out the backdrop looked suspiciously like an ornate living area from Oz’s New Jersey home, which was once featured in People magazine.

When Fetterman railed against gas prices and the profits reaped by oil companies, he added in a statement: “Dr. Oz surely doesn’t notice these sky high prices. He might not even notice if one of his nine homes went missing.”

And on Friday he launched a TV ad asking, “Do you want someone that’s all about North Jersey?” He added, “He’s not one of us.” (He also planned to fly a banner over the Jersey Shore with the message “HEY DR. OZ, WELCOME HOME TO NJ! ♥ JOHN.”)

Republicans and the Oz campaign, meanwhile, have emphasized the doctor’s busy campaign schedule and Fetterman’s absence. And they’ve painted the Democrat as a “radical” who is out of step with Pennsylvania, despite his everyman image. The National Republican Senatorial Committee has run ads linking Fetterman to Biden and rising gas prices, while also painting Fetterman as a Sanders acolyte.

This week the group, which supports GOP Senate campaigns across the country, circulated a 2016 video in which Fetterman praised Sanders, saying, “What Bernie wants to do for the United States, I want to do here in Pennsylvania.”

Fetterman endorsed Sanders that year in the Democratic presidential primary.

“Pennsylvanians are struggling to keep up with record inflation,” the committee said. “The last person they need in the U.S. Senate is someone who wants to bring Bernie Sanders’ socialist agenda to Pennsylvania.”

Fetterman’s campaign noted that he didn’t endorse Sanders in 2020, and pointed to past statements where he broke with Sanders on some issues, including on the Vermont senator’s call to ban fracking.

“John is not like Bernie, or Biden, or any other politician in Washington, for that matter,” said Fetterman spokesperson Joe Calvello. “He’s John Fetterman, and there is no one else like him. The people of Pennsylvania understand that, and if Dr. Oz was actually from Pennsylvania, he would, too.”

» READ MORE: Mehmet Oz vs. John Fetterman is a clash of two personalities running as outsiders

While Oz, a cardiothoracic surgeon, has declined to directly bring up Fetterman’s health, his campaign noted Oz has been traveling the state, holding 42 events since June 3, when his main GOP opponent conceded the primary. After Oz faced Fetterman’s jabs for his out-of-state travels, the Oz camp highlighted the doctor’s Thursday campaign stops in Allegheny and Butler Counties.

“Many of the businesses I visit daily would be decimated by John Fetterman’s radical policies,” Oz tweeted, along with a video from a factory floor.

“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 campaign noted that one of the few times Fetterman has been seen in public was on the Ocean City, N.J., boardwalk, where he was spotted with his family and in his signature hoodie.

Fetterman’s camp says he goes there regularly for vacation, but, unlike Oz, doesn’t own a home outside Pennsylvania.

Fetterman still has no definitive timeline for returning to public events, though on Saturday he appeared to take a step toward a formal return, with a surprise visit to speak to Democratic volunteers. His campaign, naturally, announced it with a video posted to Twitter.

“We will be back out on the trail soon, we’re almost at 100%,” Fetterman said, his speech clear but halting at some moments. “It nearly, almost was the end of my life, you know? And it’s totally changed my life since then.”

For now, he’s mostly still relying on sharp tweets and TV ads to counteract Oz’s schedule.

When the Democrat’s campaign sent out a memo this week outlining his progress in the race, one bullet point mentioned Fetterman’s growing volunteer network.

The two others: His Twitter account had reached 500,000 followers, and a biting video about Oz’s luxurious homes had attained more than 1 million views.