My Favorite Republican: John Fetterman

Just the other evening, at the Republican Midterm Convention, Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman was introduced to the GOP faithful. Yes, he’s a Democrat, but when his video hit the big screen, the crowd roared its approval. It was a stunning moment. How did this former mayor of a small town outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, come to be so beloved by the party that did not elect him?

To understand Fetterman, one must grasp his place of origin. He hails from York County, PA, but moved to the borough of Braddock, situated on the northern side of the Monongahela River, in the early 2000s. It’s one of many small municipalities affected by the end of the industrial age in the late 20th century.  The farther south-southeast you drive from Pittsburgh into what’s affectionately known as the Mon Valley, the more you run into an economic wipeout.

This region has been so financially depressed it’s difficult to imagine. The boroughs of Monessen and Donora are at the heart of the Mon Valley. They were once the epicenter of the American industrial base: iron, coke, tin plate, and the blockbuster of construction – steel – were all made in the Monongahela River Valley. That is, until they weren’t, and that’s where all the trouble began.

So why are Republicans paying the Keystone State senator a lick of attention? Glad you asked.

Fetterman: The Democrat Republicans Love to Love

First – before we go any further – this author must publicly repent in sackcloth and ashes of everything she said and wrote about John Fetterman during his Senate campaign against celebrity doc Mehmet Oz. If I had stopped and thought about the race for a moment, it would have been patently clear that Fetterman, the Democrat, would win. Not so much because of his party affiliation (that’s been changing in PA for a while now) but because he was running against an erudite bougie outsider who spoke about a “crudité platter” in a shot-and-a-beer part of the state.

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Oz stepped in it much like Sargent Shriver did in 1972 while campaigning for vice president on the George McGovern ticket. Trying to fit in with the working class, the Maryland socialite made a memorable blunder. Shriver bellied up to the bar, or so the story goes, and ordered a Courvoisier, adding, “No, make it a double!” to which, according to tradition, the bartender allegedly countered, “We’re all out of sausages today.” Whether true or embellished, this tale tells the story of politicos making every effort possible to curry favor with the townsfolk.

Indeed, Fetterman had what Oz could never have drummed up: local bona fides. In short, people in the Mon Valley believe folks like Dr. Oz are pretentious. It is easy to underestimate John Fetterman: His dress is somewhat, shall we say, unconventional; his speech was impaired for a long time due to a stroke; and his entire countenance evokes a “regular Joe.” He oozes authenticity. If nothing else, the people of the river valley have had enough slick politicians. After all, they are the ones who brought this working-class region to its knees.

Although it’s technically in the Lehigh Valley region of PA, Billy Joel’s hit song Allentown was an early bellwether of what was to come, as it captures the lives of Pennsylvanians ruined by the frauds and fakes of the political class. Later promises that the North American Free Trade Agreement would put them in a higher economic class came and went, but the computer jobs they were supposed to be trained for vanished into thin air. Outsourcing so much manufacturing would lead to one thing in a large swath of the Keystone State: abject poverty. 

Senator Fetterman and His Wayward Republican Sentiments

Right from the jump, you could tell Fetterman wasn't your average politico. He often does his live shots in front of a brick wall. The symbolism there should tell you a thing or two about the senator. He wasn’t afraid of Fox News journalists; he wasn’t fearful of bucking the party that brought him to the dance; and he didn’t view the GOP or its leader, Donald Trump, as public enemy number one. Instead, he displayed startling intellectual honesty. And this is, perhaps, why he has the Democratic Party in an uproar.

The big question for Big John is: Will he remain a lone voice in his party, or will he switch sides? Although he often claims that he has no intention of switching parties, it’s not out of bounds to legitimately wonder. Democrats are more than a little miffed by Senator Fetterman's surprising actions, and they sound pretty frustrated at the moment. A Pennsylvania Democrat strategist was quoted in The Hill this week asserting: “The odds of him running for reelection as a Democrat are between slim and none — and slim just left the room.”

The scenario that is keeping Democrats up at night isn’t far from reality. They need to swing four seats to control the Senate. Suppose they walk away in November with those four seats and take control of the upper chamber, spurning the rogue senator in the process. What if Fetterman is then persuaded to switch to the GOP, a project Republican leadership would be sure to undertake? He would rob the Dems of their majority and stand as a hero for all time on the right and a forever villain on the left. It is a heavy burden, but one that the broad-shouldered senator from Pennsylvania appears prepared to bear.

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Hat tip: Phil Scisciani for his extensive knowledge of the Pennsylvania terrain.