Sep.08

electoral-vote.com

Dem 51

Ties 3

GOP 46

Fetterman Story Presumably Surprises No One

Late last week, The Wall Street Journal had a lengthy piece headlined "Behind Closed Doors, John Fetterman Shows Little Interest in the Work of a Senator."

The article is behind the WSJ's paywall, but the main assertions are as follows:

• He hates performing constituent services, and often searches for excuses to avoid doing so. At various times, for example, he has blown off a meeting with disabled veterans, a meeting with people building a children's hospital and a funeral for three slain police officers.
  
  
• He hates attending committee meetings. To avoid losing his assignments and/or giving his opponents political fodder, he has perfected the art of showing up just long enough to be counted as "present," and then vamoosing.
  
  
• He does find time for Fox. Fetterman likes appearing on TV, and he has a particular affinity for Fox's airwaves. In fact, on the same day he missed the meeting with disabled veterans, claiming that he was suffering from food poisoning, he did an interview with Fox.
  
  
• He has become obsessed with Israel, on par with Captain Ahab and Moby Dick. Fetterman has said he does not plan to leave the Democratic Party, but that he WILL do so if it becomes the anti-Israel party. Of course, that's a pretty squishy standard, and one that you could already argue has been met, if you point to Israel-critical Democrats like Abdul El-Sayed and the members of the Squad. Heck, you could even point to Jon Stewart, who had Fetterman on his show about a month ago, and who made the argument that assuming that any government is 100% right, 100% of the time, is a dangerous road to travel.
  
  
• He is very difficult to work for, between being abusive and being unreliable, and burns through staffers as fast as anyone on The Hill.

Fetterman pushed back against the Journal's reporting yesterday, describing the article as a collection of "smears" and "half-truths," and offering up explanations for the various claims made in the article (e.g., "I was just joking" and "I was sick in the morning, but felt better in the afternoon"). The problem here is that the newspaper showed its work, and had text messages from Fetterman to back its claims. The second problem here is that this tracks; it's not like it comes out of the blue that Fetterman has been something less than a model U.S. Senator.

Anyhow, it's worth noting for two reasons. The first is that Fetterman is not a reliable Democratic vote, or even a reliable Democrat, from here on out. In particular, if the Democrats retake control of the Senate 51-49, there is a very real chance he'll flip to the GOP, either to stick it to the blue team, or in exchange for a mountain of pork/other perks, or both. Even if he stays with Team Blue, you cannot be confident he'll support the bills that the Democrats try to pass, even if they are "here's what we'll do if we get the trifecta" bills that have no chance of actually becoming law before January 3, 2029, because Donald Trump won't sign them.

The second is that it's hard to imagine a world where Fetterman remains in the Senate once his term is up in January 2029. He does not seem to enjoy the job, or the scrutiny that comes with it. And even if he wants to remain, he has completely burned his bridges with the voters who sent him to Washington. In response to the Journal's story, several members of Pennsylvania's House delegation tore into the Senator. For example, here is Chris Deluzio:

There is a lot I could say about this report of John Fetterman's pathetic behavior as a Senator. But between the laziness, disrespect, and willingness to carry water for a foreign government, it shows us something we already know: this man has no sense of duty.

He is not up for the high office he was elected to -- and we in Pennsylvania will do something about it in 2028.

It is unusual, to say the least, for a representative to speak so harshly about a senator from their own party, and their own state. Even if Rep. Becca Balint (D-VT) was upset with Bernie Sanders, for example, she would never lambaste him like this.

And Deluzio's words aren't just the words of someone who's taken the gloves off and is ready to go bare-knuckle. They are also the words of someone who smells blood in the water, and who is preparing a Senate bid of their own in 2028. So, even if Fetterman does try to keep his job, he's going to have at least one or two very serious primary challengers, challengers who are getting their ducks in a row as we speak, and challengers who are very clearly Democrats, as opposed to someone who leans DINO. Yep, Fetterman is cooked. (Z)