Lt. Gov. John Fetterman made his first major public appearance Friday, August 12 since suffering a stroke on May 13.
For his first major public appearance since the stroke, Fetterman picked Erie County, a rural blue-collar part of the state that his campaign sees as a must-win place for Democrats.
“John believes whoever wins Erie County’s gonna win the election,” Fetterman campaign spokesperson Joe Calvello said in a story in the Philadelphia Inquirer. “He said the same thing in 2020. It’s the bellwether of Pennsylvania. It’s a place where Democrats need to compete and frankly where we need to win.”
Erie was one of three counties that flipped from voting for Barack Obama to Donald Trump in 2016. Erie and Northampton counties were the only two counties in the state that flipped back to Joe Biden in 2020.
It’s good to see that Fetterman is doing well and back on the campaign trail. He is smart to campaign across the state and not cede rural areas, which are traditionally more conservative than cities and suburbs. One of the reasons this paper endorsed Fetterman in the Democratic primary in May is his broad appeal among Democrats across the state. His focus on raising the minimum wage and other working class issues has appeal across the state and could possibly transcend party lines.
Fetterman must appeal to rural parts of the state, as well as Pennsylvania’s cities and suburbs, if he expects to win.
While Erie and other rural cities and towns across the state are important, Fetterman must also campaign hard in Philadelphia, the state’s largest city, as well as smaller towns and suburbs in the vote-rich Southeastern region. Philadelphia is home to many African-American Democratic voters who Fetterman will need to mobilize and turn out in November.
His Republican opponent, Dr. Mehmet Oz, who has attacked Fetterman’s absence from the campaign trail, has made appearances in Philadelphia, a largely Democratic city. There is no doubt that Oz will seek to use his TV popularity to woo some Democratic voters.
Until August 12, Fetterman, 52, had remained largely hidden from the public since his stroke. But his absence did not appear to hurt him in the polls, where he is leading.
We are glad to see him back on the campaign trail.
Reprinted from the Philadelphia Tribune
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