Now, with about two months until Election Day, that civility has faded, with Oz and his campaign recently directing a barrage of personal and political attacks against Fetterman — including accusing the Democrat of either withholding health information his or he is afraid to discuss. “I have empathy for what John Fetterman is going through, but it’s still incumbent on him to be honest with us about what he can do and either answer tough questions about what I believe is a far-left radical position on many problems or be honest about the health problems you have,” Oz said at a campaign event this week in suburban Philadelphia, a swing district in one of the most important Senate battlegrounds of the fall. After enduring a relentless stream from the Fetterman campaign over the summer about his wealth, celebrity status and longtime New Jersey residency — mostly in the form of online trolling aimed at portraying him as an unhinged opportunist — Oz and his allies have shifted to a more aggressive stance, facing a sudden barrage of criticism aimed at the Democratic lieutenant governor. It’s part of a strategy that some Republicans see as a course correction for a campaign that has fallen behind Fetterman in the polls and worried some GOP leaders. Oz is also working to narrow support from across the Republican Party — a challenge that overshadowed his candidacy after the runoff he narrowly won. Last week, he appeared at events with Republicans from across the party spectrum, from former President Donald Trump to his former challenger David McCormick to former UN ambassador Nikki Haley. “It took a while for Dr. that’s the first step and then you have to work to improve your image and then go after your opponent,” said Sen. Patrick J. Toomey (R-Pa.), who joined Oz on the trail this week. Toomey, whose seat Oz is running to fill, added: “Some of these things started a little later, but they’ve started well now, and I think this race right now is almost within the margin of error. I think so [Oz] he has a very good chance to win this.” This week, Oz appeared to be trying to distance himself from the far-right wing of his party without alienating a base still loyal to Trump. He said he would have voted to certify the 2020 election results but would not have voted to impeach Trump for his role in the attack on the U.S. Capitol by a pro-Trump mob on Jan. 6, 2021. Toomey was among seven Republican senators who voted to convict Trump. The Pennsylvania contest is seen by both parties as essential to winning control of the upper house of Congress next year. At several events this week, Oz pursued a more defined presence in the race after keeping a lower profile over the summer months. But not everyone who attended an Oz town hall here Thursday was completely sold on his candidacy, underscoring uncertainty about his ability to win over grassroots voters and win over voters after a slow start. Cathy Finan, 63, had voted for Cathy Barnett in the primary, choosing a far-right candidate who ran closely aligned with the Trump movement, even though Oz had the support of the 45th president. “I don’t know enough about his positions,” he said, adding that “he hasn’t been very visible to me, so yeah, I’m interested in what he has to say, what his top items are, what his issues are.” At the event, held inside a catering hall in a Republican-friendly area of Delaware County — a vote-rich battleground that picked President Biden over Trump in 2020 by less than two percentage points but picked Trump in 2016 over Hillary Clinton by an even narrower margin — Oz stood by Haley on Thursday surrounded by voters. The crowd was mostly White seniors. Oz, who hosted a medical talk show for 13 years, worked the crowd with ease. He continued chatting as he put a blood pressure cuff on Haley to see if the issues they said were plaguing the country would make hers go up (nope). He conducted a mock confrontation, peppering a fictional Fetterman with questions about the crime. At the end, he took some friendly questions from the crowd. “I would argue that you are the most radical candidate for Senate in Pennsylvania ever, and perhaps the most radical candidate in any contested race in the entire country,” Oz said in his mock debate remarks. Oz and his allies have stepped up attacks on comments Fetterman has made about reducing the prison population and giving criminals second chances. Oz has generally spoken out in support of law enforcement and stopping crime. He said Thursday that people with substance abuse disorders need “tough love” in rehab facilities, not “heroin injection zones.” Fetterman has advocated for supervised injection sites. “As mayor of Braddock, John worked with police and the community to address gun violence and crime,” Fetterman spokesman Joe Calvello said in response to the Oz attacks. Fetterman said this week that he had committed to debating Oz once before the election, sometime in October, but that his campaign was still working out the details given his lingering hearing and speech limitations from his stroke. May — including the ability to use closed captions . Oz’s campaign said the lack of expertise is insufficient. “There’s pretty much a broad consensus that they’ve turned to offense. It feels like Fetterman is on significant defense for the first time. I’m more positive about Pennsylvania than at any point,” said a Republican operative with a close eye on the race who, like others interviewed for this story, spoke on condition of anonymity to speak more openly about the race. . The Democratic nominee has been out of the campaign for much of the summer and has returned to events late with limited direct public interactions. At times, he has struggled with his speech, but Fetterman’s campaign has insisted he is up to the job of being a U.S. senator. In late August, Oz’s campaign released a sarcastic list of suggested solutions to the Fetterman debate, including writing “at any time, John Fetterman can raise his hand and say ‘bathroom break!’ This came shortly after an Oz colleague mocked the Democrat for not eating vegetables before his stroke. The National Republican Senatorial Committee continues to accuse Fetterman of “lying” about his health. Fetterman suffered a stroke just days before the May primary. At the time, his campaign did not publicly disclose some important details about his health. It was only later that he revealed the severity of his illness as well as a previously unknown heart condition and the fact that he had not taken any prescribed medication. At Thursday’s event, Haley offered her condolences to Fetterman, but added, “You owe it to yourself to be honest. He needs to step up and show everyone what he’s capable of. If he can’t live up to 110 percent of the work, he should have the courage to come out and say, “I can’t do it.” “ Calvelo called Oz “a complete and utter fraud” and added that Fetterman is “having an honest conversation about health, a conversation that thousands of Pennsylvanians have probably had with their families.” Republicans are trying to puncture the persona that Fetterman created of a straight-laced, anti-establishment man of the people who would overturn the rules of Washington in an oversized sweatshirt and cargo shorts. This pitch seemed to work for much of the summer. In mid-August, a Franklin & Marshall College poll found Fetterman leading with 43% to Oz’s 30%, with 20% undecided. Other recent polls have shown Fetterman still ahead of Oz, but by different margins. Republicans say they see an opportunity for Oz to gain ground in the final weeks of the race, particularly if Fetterman is not an active presence on the campaign trail. “I feel sorry for him, for anyone who had a stroke and should be smart enough to bow out,” said Antone Ambrosino, 77, sitting in the back row at Oz’s town hall Thursday, wearing a red Make America Great. Again” cap. “If he can’t have a conversation with Dr. Oz, how is he going to have a conversation with someone on the Senate floor?” Isaac Arnsdorf and Scott Clement contributed to this report.
