The November 8 elections in the United States will be decided this Tuesday in Pennsylvania. Depending on who wins the primary in the Republican and Democratic parties now, In a state that seems crucial to a majority in the Senate, the balance can tip one side or the other within six months. The fight is very tight, particularly in the Republican Party, which includes current seat holder Pat Toomey, who is retiring. In this duel between a famous doctor and a billionaire investor, a third candidate has emerged, neither a billionaire nor a famous one, but quite the extremist who threatens to cause a big surprise. On the Democratic side, the favorite is a six-foot-tall giant begging for the vote in gym gear and shorts.
The duel over Pennsylvania is getting all the limelight because it’s a state where both parties have real opportunities, because it’s once again testing the validity of Trumpism in the Republican Party, even beyond the former president, and because of the gallery of the controversial characters. Nobody remains indifferent.
dr Oz is Trump’s recommended candidate. Mehmet Oz, of Turkish descent, a non-practicing Muslim (no Muslim has ever become a Senator in the United States), was a cardiothoracic surgeon, an eminence in his field. From there he launched into television and came up. First as a guest of Oprah Winfrey and later with her solo show, he began to talk about what he knew and what he didn’t know. He frequently made pseudo-scientific recommendations that were outright wrong or out of place. Still, he made fame and fortune (he’s worth more than $100 million) and wanted something more. He decided to get into politics, believing that Pennsylvania was the most suitable place.
David McCormick during a campaign rally in Lititz, Pennsylvania on May 13. Matt Rourke (AP)
Trump’s endorsement is his great asset, and he takes every opportunity, every message to supporters, every public address, interview or announcement, to insist on it to almost ridiculous extremes. In some of his campaign ads, Trump occupies a more prominent place than himself. And yet he fails to convince his party’s voters. They accuse him of having a history of being tolerant of abortion, critical of fracking for oil and a supporter of stronger gun control.
Such concessions to centrism are not easily forgiven in the Trump-era GOP. They also think he’s a paratrooper, someone who had severed his ties with Pennsylvania and who opportunistically returned to the state because he saw he could compete for the senatorship there. On May 6, at a large rally in Greensburg attended by the former president, some of the people cheering Trump booed Dr. Oz out at his own rally.
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The attacks of the former president
Even then, Oz’s big rival seemed to be David McCormick. McCormick has the perfect resume. After graduating from West Point and Princeton, he held positions of responsibility in the George W. Bush administration, first as Undersecretary of Commerce and later for the Treasury Department dealing with the international financial crisis. In private, he was a consultant for McKinsey, head of FreeMarkets and, in recent years, CEO of Bridgewater, the hedge fund manager where he was paid $22 million a year. before the start of the Senate campaign.
Trump has labeled him a “liberal Wall Street Republican” and said he is the “special interest Washington establishment’s” nominee. However, McCormick, much more dovish in his political positions than the former president, has tried to avoid a clash that would be suicidal for him. On the contrary, he’s temporarily scouted, sought common ground, praised Trump, and incorporated former former presidential offices into his team, to which he sarcastically responded, “If someone was 200 miles from me, he’d hire them.” In fact, it was his own Wife, Dina Powell, now in a senior position at Goldman Sachs, Deputy National Security Advisor under Trump.
But Trump’s final line on McCormick was this: “He may be a nice guy, but he’s not MAGA,” a reference to Make America Great Again, Trump’s motto, which roughly translates to “Make America Great Again.” [por Estados Unidos] be great again.” He’s not MAGA, he’s not a Trumpist, he’s not one of his own.
Oz and McCormick have faced a dog face and a checkbook slap. They spent millions of dollars on the campaign, about $15 million each before the final fireworks. And much of that money has gone into negative publicity for the other candidate, with some success. dr Oz is repeatedly accused of being a RINO (Republican in name only, Republican only by lip service) and McCormick of being fond of China and of deliriously twisting the commercial and financial ties he had with that country.
Dodging this crossfire and spending minimally on her campaign has propelled the character of Kathy Barnette, a former political commentator who failed in her previous attempt to become a congresswoman and who has a tremendous personal history. Her mother was 12 years old when she was born. She was raped at the age of 11. This lends great credibility to her anti-abortion position, which has become an electoral issue since the draft Supreme Court ruling that will render it illegal across the country was leaked.
Beyond abortion, if McCormick isn’t MAGA, Barnette is ultraMAGA. His Twitter account is full of surprises. He claimed Obama was a Muslim. and that this determined his foreign policy. He posted several Islamophobic and homophobic messages. And in 2015 he even tweeted: “Pedophilia is a cornerstone of Islam.” When questioned about these messages, her responses ranged from longstanding or taken out of context to denial against all evidence, such as when she was shown this 2015 tweet: “I don’t think it’s me. I would never have said that.”
Kathy Barnette, at a forum for Republican candidates for the Senate in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania on April 2. Matt Rourke (AP)
Despite being almost more Trumpist than Trump, the former president has been forced to step in to halt his rise. Trump initially supported Sean Parnell, who eventually withdrew from the campaign amid allegations of sexist violence with his wife. If Oz’s endorsement didn’t work either, he would make a fool of himself, so he attacked his rival: “Kathy Barnette can never win the election [de noviembre] against left-wing democrats,” he said. in a statement last Thursday. “She has many things in her past that have not been properly explained or explored, but if she is able to do so, she will have a wonderful future in the Republican Party and I will be with her to the end.” “
Trump doesn’t like Barnette, but he sees her as too extreme to win over the Democratic nominee. That’s one of the paradoxes of the Republican primary. Candidates from more extreme positions are more likely to win within the party but less so against the Democrats, which is most important. That’s not a problem in clearly Republican states, but it can be in Pennsylvania.
The Democratic front runner is also nothing conventional. John Fetterman is the state’s lieutenant governor, so you could imagine him campaigning in a suit and tie in hotels and convention centers. Nothing is further from reality. Fetterman campaigns in shorts and a sweatshirt, wears his goatee and a few tattoos, and meets with constituents when necessary.
John Fetterman, Pennsylvania Lieutenant Governor and nominee for the Democratic Senate, at a campaign rally at a brewery in Easton, Pennsylvania May 1. HANNAH BEIER (REUTERS)
Behind this anti-system stance is a politician who defends the promotion of public health, the rehabilitation of convicts, the legalization of marijuana and the defense of transgender rights. Some of his program could anger the more conservative voters he hopes to win over. Perhaps Conor Lamb, the Democratic primary runner-up, would have a better chance with his more centrist platform, but he’s way behind in the polls. Fetterman appears to have the primaries in the bag, despite announcing it this Sunday a heart problem had led to his hospitalization two days earlier. Although he has assured that he is much better and on the way to a full recovery, he has added further excitement to the campaign.
It’s not the only race. As governor, Trump is backing a candidate equally obsessed with the conspiracy theory that he was robbed of the election, Doug Mastriano. Mastriano and Barnette agree and support each other. In the Republican Party, however, the more moderate currents tremble at the thought that this could be their November 8 election ticket.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano at a campaign event in Warminster, Pennsylvania last week Michael M. Santiago (AFP)
In the general election, the entire House of Representatives and 36 of the 100 senators will be replaced. In the Senate, the most powerful house, the die is cast in the vast majority of states in which they compete because they have a solid Democratic or Republican majority. There are only a handful really in the game and considering the power split is now 50/50 senators, everyone counts.
Republicans are seen more by President Joe Biden’s lack of popularity and economic woes (record gas prices, rampant inflation, low consumer confidence and now a shortage of baby food). And they have their sights set on Nevada, Arizona and Georgia, where Democrats risk losing three senators. For their part, Democrats are pinning their hopes on two states where Biden won Trump in 2020 and where two Republican senators are ending their terms: Wisconsin and most notably Pennsylvania.
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