The contrast between how Fox News treated him during the campagin versus now is stark. They went from calling him a vegatable to suddenly praying for his recovery once he started aligning with their narative. It's textbook MAGA behavior, attack ruthlessly until someone becomes useful. Your point about narcissism seeking validation wherever it comes from really hits the mark here.
It won’t end well for him. Staying Dem means losing the next primary, and switching to GOP is a losing game because PA can only elect Republicans with some crossover appeal. Being a MAGA whose claim to fame is “I was a dick to Democrats and I kiss Trump’s ass” won’t play with the swing voters he needs. I’m guessing he just becomes a Fox News pundit after his term is up.
And please people, start vetting personalities, not just political stances. The oddball mavericks are the ones most likely to turn on you the moment their feelings are hurt.
Yep—maybe that’s what Fetterman is angling for—Secretary of Being an Asshole.
And I don’t mind him not voting with the party on issues—we should be welcome to a diversity of politics in our coalition to some extent. The problem is the Democrats’ “mavericks” (unlike say Collins for the GOP) always publicly trash the rest of the party and push bad faith right wing talking points. That should be unacceptable.
Yes, there was a lot of talk about his positions in 2022 but not so much about how he was a self-involved asshole. (The shotgun incident is bad, but voters could have seen that as a one-off -- and a relatable one, given crime rates in cities post covid.)
Admittedly he ran a smart campaign—focused his fire on the Republicans and otherwise ran as a normal Democrat. Aside from the shotgun incident I didn’t see much reporting indicating that he could be unreliable or lack character. That’s what vetting should be picking up!
It's important to understand that Fetterman's stroke happened because he has a very serious heart condition. Despite having an implanted pacemaker to control lethal tachyarrhythmias, he recently had a serious episode of vfib, resulting in a fall and injury requiring hospitalization. Thanks to tax-payer funded, lavish healthcare provided to political elites like Fetterman, he received excellent, life saving care. Us tax payers, thanks to his votes, are not eligible for, and most can't afford, anything close to Fetterman's healthcare coverage. I am happy he is recovering. Too bad for the rest of us.
I'd argue that the healthcare isn't lavish, it's what everyone walking around here should get. We can afford it, knock out the middle-man and have single payer, no insurance.
People who work in billing and coding? I have a jobs program for these folks, they can keep their jobs (we won't hire more, just let them finish their careers) digitizing old medical records. Make the medical but not personal data public so we have that much more information available for research.
The Democratic party fell for the edgy guy who said all the "right" things and turned out to be an asshole. So dump his ass and get a nice person who does the right things next time.
I supported his primary opponent, Conor Lamb, and everyone else should have, too. Just because you smoke weed and wear a hoodie does not make you a good choice for the US Senate! We too often fall for the performative individual rather than the candidate who will be able to govern.
exactly. Counterintuitively, two of the most progressive people in politics, AOC and Z Mamdani dress in suit clothes and are 'respectfully' groomed when they are 'on the clock'. Fetterman's and Sinema's 'peacocking' via dressing against norms should have been a red flag. We'll know for next time...Behind that 'fun' look is likely a liability
Well he was good at saying The Pretty Words What Democrats Like, and that's going to continue to be an issue. It means Dems too will be susceptible to demagoguery for Trojan Horses.
Yeah. Chalk it up to a learning curve. At this point any 'peacocking' candidates should be seen as a MAJOR red flag. Its easy to think that the person dressing 'fun' and 'antiestablishment' is going to be a lefty, but that's not true. Even the ULTIUMATE people's candidate (Z Mamdani) ALWAYS dressed in a suit and tie.
The people in our party who 'pick' our leaders need to pay MUCH more attention to liberal comments threads like here and elsewhere. Collectively we've been really good at sniffing out bad apples
GMTA...OTOH, they hire consultants so that they don't HAVE to listen to voters...They'd rather read tea leaves and goat entrails to get the weather forecast when they could just fucking look at a barometer...All the intel they need to win elections is ABUNDANTLY available and 100% free of charge on the internet. Years ago the political kingmakers would have KILLED for the ability to read what millions of people are thinking in real time. One of the few GOOD things the internet CAN do and they fucking ignore it completely
Yeah, Fetterman is a maga - his words and actions prove it. If he were honest with himself, he would leave the Democratic Party and become a Republican.
I find it hard to believe I live in a timeline where people have to Google Rick Santorum (and PLEASE don't Google Dan Savage at the same time) or that he is no longer the worst POS alive.
You can take the boy out of Pensyltucky...
The contrast between how Fox News treated him during the campagin versus now is stark. They went from calling him a vegatable to suddenly praying for his recovery once he started aligning with their narative. It's textbook MAGA behavior, attack ruthlessly until someone becomes useful. Your point about narcissism seeking validation wherever it comes from really hits the mark here.
It won’t end well for him. Staying Dem means losing the next primary, and switching to GOP is a losing game because PA can only elect Republicans with some crossover appeal. Being a MAGA whose claim to fame is “I was a dick to Democrats and I kiss Trump’s ass” won’t play with the swing voters he needs. I’m guessing he just becomes a Fox News pundit after his term is up.
And please people, start vetting personalities, not just political stances. The oddball mavericks are the ones most likely to turn on you the moment their feelings are hurt.
Yep, he can't win a general election as a turncoat. RFK Jr and Gabbard have Cabinet positions but that's different from winning an election.
Yep—maybe that’s what Fetterman is angling for—Secretary of Being an Asshole.
And I don’t mind him not voting with the party on issues—we should be welcome to a diversity of politics in our coalition to some extent. The problem is the Democrats’ “mavericks” (unlike say Collins for the GOP) always publicly trash the rest of the party and push bad faith right wing talking points. That should be unacceptable.
Yes, there was a lot of talk about his positions in 2022 but not so much about how he was a self-involved asshole. (The shotgun incident is bad, but voters could have seen that as a one-off -- and a relatable one, given crime rates in cities post covid.)
Admittedly he ran a smart campaign—focused his fire on the Republicans and otherwise ran as a normal Democrat. Aside from the shotgun incident I didn’t see much reporting indicating that he could be unreliable or lack character. That’s what vetting should be picking up!
It's important to understand that Fetterman's stroke happened because he has a very serious heart condition. Despite having an implanted pacemaker to control lethal tachyarrhythmias, he recently had a serious episode of vfib, resulting in a fall and injury requiring hospitalization. Thanks to tax-payer funded, lavish healthcare provided to political elites like Fetterman, he received excellent, life saving care. Us tax payers, thanks to his votes, are not eligible for, and most can't afford, anything close to Fetterman's healthcare coverage. I am happy he is recovering. Too bad for the rest of us.
I'd argue that the healthcare isn't lavish, it's what everyone walking around here should get. We can afford it, knock out the middle-man and have single payer, no insurance.
People who work in billing and coding? I have a jobs program for these folks, they can keep their jobs (we won't hire more, just let them finish their careers) digitizing old medical records. Make the medical but not personal data public so we have that much more information available for research.
Healthcare for all.
The Democratic party fell for the edgy guy who said all the "right" things and turned out to be an asshole. So dump his ass and get a nice person who does the right things next time.
And I was one of them. His campaign was the only donation I made to a white man. Such high hopes. Damn.
Still waiting on his eventual party switch.
Dems need enough of a majority to make him irrelevant, in order to fix things, and unfortunately that means clawing back unreconstructed territory.
I 𝑘𝑛𝑒𝑤 I'd seen him before...
https://substack.com/profile/177712563-dina/note/c-178914863
I supported his primary opponent, Conor Lamb, and everyone else should have, too. Just because you smoke weed and wear a hoodie does not make you a good choice for the US Senate! We too often fall for the performative individual rather than the candidate who will be able to govern.
exactly. Counterintuitively, two of the most progressive people in politics, AOC and Z Mamdani dress in suit clothes and are 'respectfully' groomed when they are 'on the clock'. Fetterman's and Sinema's 'peacocking' via dressing against norms should have been a red flag. We'll know for next time...Behind that 'fun' look is likely a liability
Sinema in a hoodie.
Nice job vetting your fucking candidates, Dems.
Well he was good at saying The Pretty Words What Democrats Like, and that's going to continue to be an issue. It means Dems too will be susceptible to demagoguery for Trojan Horses.
Yeah. Chalk it up to a learning curve. At this point any 'peacocking' candidates should be seen as a MAJOR red flag. Its easy to think that the person dressing 'fun' and 'antiestablishment' is going to be a lefty, but that's not true. Even the ULTIUMATE people's candidate (Z Mamdani) ALWAYS dressed in a suit and tie.
JFC, Dems should KNOW the fascists are grooming Trojan-Horse candidates to run in Dem elections. It's Politics 101.
you KNOW it.
The people in our party who 'pick' our leaders need to pay MUCH more attention to liberal comments threads like here and elsewhere. Collectively we've been really good at sniffing out bad apples
Listen to the VOTERS, not the gotdamn over-priced "consultants*."
*Who, for all we know, are being paid by the GOP to fuck us over.
GMTA...OTOH, they hire consultants so that they don't HAVE to listen to voters...They'd rather read tea leaves and goat entrails to get the weather forecast when they could just fucking look at a barometer...All the intel they need to win elections is ABUNDANTLY available and 100% free of charge on the internet. Years ago the political kingmakers would have KILLED for the ability to read what millions of people are thinking in real time. One of the few GOOD things the internet CAN do and they fucking ignore it completely
Ye$$$, they do.
Yeah, Fetterman is a maga - his words and actions prove it. If he were honest with himself, he would leave the Democratic Party and become a Republican.
I think his identity lies more in basic contrarianism. Whatever side he picked, he'd have to go against it to prove his 'fuck you' creds
"or even use to train puppies."
Kinda depends on what you are training them to DO
It's a fair bet he won't be on the ballot in 2028, so I suppose speaking at the RNC would be the best audition for wingnut welfare.
I find it hard to believe I live in a timeline where people have to Google Rick Santorum (and PLEASE don't Google Dan Savage at the same time) or that he is no longer the worst POS alive.