By Harsha Josephine Antony | On Sun 4 Sept 2022 | 9.40 pm IST |
Photo credit: AP Photo
Larry Mitko voted in favour of Donald Trump in 2016. The Republican candidate for the Senate from Beaver County, Pennsylvania, insists that he has “no way, no how” intends to back Dr. Mehmet Oz. The prominent heart surgeon doesn’t seem to be someone Mitko is acquainted with; he narrowly won his May primary with Trump’s backing.
In 2016, Larry Mitko cast his ballot for Donald Trump. However, the Beaver County, Pennsylvania, Republican claims that he has “no way, no how” plans to support Dr Mehmet Oz, his party’s nominee for the Senate. The star heart surgeon, who barely prevailed in his May primary with Trump’s support, doesn’t seem like someone Mitko is acquainted with. Mitko, who has known Lt. Gov. John Fetterman since his time as the mayor of the nearby town of Braddock, is planning to support Fetterman, Oz’s Democratic opponent. He claimed, “Dr Oz hasn’t shown me anything to encourage me to vote for him.” I’m not going to vote for a stranger.
Mitko’s analysis highlights the political difficulties that Trump and the rest of the Republican Party are experiencing as the former president switches to general election gear with his first rally of the autumn campaign on Saturday night in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. It was Trump’s first event following the FBI’s raid of his Mar-a-Lago club, and he spent some evenings screaming about it. However, the gathering was arranged to support Oz and Doug Mastriano, the GOP’s hard-line contender for governor of Pennsylvania. In addition to being “a farce of justice,” he described it as “one of the most stunning abuses of power by any government in American history.”
They’re attempting to quiet me, but they’re also trying to silence you, which is more significant. However, we won’t go unheard. said Trump. During the search, investigators found hundreds of papers, including more than 100 that had top secret and classified markings. This summer, Trump’s supported candidates dominated the Republican primary field, but many of them were unproven and divisive individuals who are now having difficulty in their November contests. That threatens Republican Senate control, which was previously thought to be a lock.
The others include retired football player Herschel Walker in Georgia, venture entrepreneur Blake Masters in Arizona, and author JD Vance from Ohio. Veteran Republican pollster Whit Ayres observed that “Republicans have now selected a lot of candidates who have never run for office before for extremely high-profile Senate races.” He remarked, “It’s a much more challenging endeavour than a candidate who had won multiple difficult political races before,” despite not completely ruling out his party’s chances just yet. The stakes are especially high for Trump as he prepares for an anticipated 2024 presidential candidacy among a number of intensifying legal battles.
Trump switches to general election mode.
President Joe Biden warned that Trump and other “MAGA” Republicans — an acronym for Trump’s “Make America Great Again” campaign slogan — constituted a threat to American democracy during a speech last week in Philadelphia during prime time. Like he did with the 2020 election, Biden has attempted to characterise the impending vote as a struggle for the “spirit of the nation.” Pittsburgh will be Biden’s third stop in the state in a week when he visits on Labor Day, demonstrating the significance of Pennsylvania during this election year. Trump frequently criticised Biden, claiming at one point that “above all, this election is a referendum on the corruption and radicalism” of the Democratic Party and Biden, and he briefly highlighted Oz and Mastriano.
He pointed out that Mastriano had fought beside him from the start to try and support Trump in his efforts to rig the 2020 election and maintain his position of power, stating Mastriano fought “like very few people fought.” In an assault on Fetterman and Josh Shapiro, the Democratic candidate for governor, Trump declared that he “is going to work and fight for Pennsylvania” while misrepresenting their opinions on matters like abortion and crime. Taking aim at Fetterman’s irreverent attire choices of shorts and hoodies, the former president declared, “I don’t like those disgusting sweat suits. They are repulsive. In the midst of Pennsylvania’s greatest crime wave, “Fetterman may dress like a teenager getting drunk in his parent’s basement, but he’s a violent madman hell-bent on letting dangerous criminals out of jail,” Trump claimed.
Republicans have targeted Fetterman because he has supported initiatives to relax some mandatory sentencing regulations and free more elderly or rehabilitated prisoners from jail. Because of rising inflation, high gas prices, and Vice President Biden’s declining popularity, Republicans were once thought to have a good chance of taking over both chambers of Congress in the upcoming election. However, since the Supreme Court overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade decision protecting abortion rights, Republicans have found themselves on the defensive. Some candidates, like Mastriano, are remaining true to the strategies they used in their primary campaigns in the hopes that they can win by mobilising Trump’s ardent supporters even if they alienate or disregard more moderate voters.
Mastriano was a key player in Trump’s attempt to rig the 2020 election and was spotted outside the U.S. Capitol on January 6 as pro-Trump rioters stormed the structure. Mastriano wants to outlaw abortion regardless of whether the mother’s life is in danger or the pregnancy results from rape, incest, or other factors. Others, however, are attempting to appeal to a wider audience by removing from their websites any mention of anti-abortion rhetoric that is not in line with the political establishment. Trump endorsements that were formerly extensively publicised have been downplayed by others. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Senate Minority Leader, dampened hopes that Republicans would regain control of the Senate last month by citing “candidate quality” as a result of the altering political landscape.
Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, claimed that individuals who criticise the party’s nominees have “contempt” for the electorate who selected them. Trump also responded, branding McConnell a “disgrace” and defending the slate of candidates put out by the party. Democrats have added to the argument. David Bergstein, the head of communications for the Senate Democratic campaign committee, claimed that Republicans had presented a list of candidates that were “seriously problematic recruiters.” Republicans in Pennsylvania are hoping that worries about Fetterman, who had a stroke just days before the primary and has been out of commission for most of the summer, will overshadow Oz’s failings as a candidate.
Republicans are aware of Oz’s difficulties with authenticity and that he was reluctant to respond when Fetterman spent the summer teasing him online and painting him as a super-rich, out-of-touch carpetbagger from New Jersey. Republicans claim they expect the funding disparity to close even though Fetterman is ahead of Oz in surveys and fundraising. They are also happy to see Oz within striking distance after being subjected to $20 million in attack commercials during the primary.
Previously sceptic voters have been won over by Oz, including Glen Rubendall, who stated he now had a “pro-Oz stance now” despite not supporting the TV doctor in his seven-way primary (a victory so close it required a statewide recount). Despite primary campaign commercials showcasing earlier statements by Oz that appeared to support abortion rights, Traci Martin, a registered independent, also intends to support Oz because she opposes abortion. Martin stated, “I hope he is (anti-abortion), but the unfortunate part is we live in an age where we see politicians say one thing and do another.
