The result in the Senate race in Pennsylvania was always going to be so important – and the way it’s played out is pretty remarkable.
The Democrats managed to flip it from the Republicans.
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The available seat was up for grabs because of the retirement of veteran Republican senator Pat Toomey.
US President Joe Biden’s weak approval rating, the rural Republican strongholds, the perceived draw of Trump’s Maga movement, and historic precedents were all reasons why the polls and the pundits had wondered if, surely, the Toomey crown would be handed to the new Republican candidate, Mehmet Oz.
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Oz, after all, was a polished TV personality. He’d toggled his political persona a little – sometimes close to Trump, other times less so.
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Against Oz was the opposite of polish. John Fetterman – the salt of the earth, man of the people, hoodie-wearing former Pittsburgh suburban mayor.
The TV debate in this most crucial of states was a disaster for Fetterman. A stroke survivor, he struggles sometimes with sentence formation. It was a difficult watch against the smooth-talking Oz.
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But it turns out that voters preferred the lifelong, local, engaged politician to the smoothie who didn’t even live in Pennsylvania until recently.
A majority of voters rejected Oz’s Trump link. They rejected his inexperience. They rejected his anti-abortion stance. They rejected his doubt about the validity of the 2020 election.
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These are rejections that appear to be playing out elsewhere too.
Donald Trump has some reflecting to do after tonight.
