Friend of mine suffered a TBI and has aphasia. He can write and read perfectly fine. He cannot carry on a conversation well at all. Participating in a debate would be nigh impossible.
Hey look, really conservative "media" person and editor and content creator says that Fetterman should have never debated. The conservative marching orders were written before the debate ever even took place - claim over the top that Fetterman is a monster that was HORRIBLE in the debate, knowing no one really watched it and will run with it.
Nope, fellow democrats (Noah is quoting NBC) “He should not have debated. Anyone on his team who agreed to a debate should be fired, or never work again, because that debate may have tanked his campaign,” said Chris Kofinis, a veteran Democratic campaign strategist. “This race was trending toward victory. Now, it’s anyone’s guess what happens.” Several Democrats who spoke to NBC News, some on the condition of anonymity, said they were shocked by the degree to which Fetterman struggled to communicate clearly, even though he has acknowledged ongoing difficulty in processing what he hears and speaking without dropping words. By Wednesday morning, many Democrats were in a panic over his performance. And there were fresh questions about how transparent Fetterman has been through a months-long recovery that continues to present communication challenges less than two weeks before Election Day. “Folks are pretty much freaking out on the Dem side,” Khari Mosley, a Pittsburgh-based Democratic consultant and grassroots activist, said via text message. “I think there was false hope he’d thread the needle last night so some wind was taken out of the sails. In many ways that’s the first time many [people] got to see the phenomenon known as John Fetterman, not the best timing for the biggest stage of his life.” One Democrat who has been in touch with the Fetterman campaign said it erred in not having him do more events and interviews sooner, to better acclimate voters to the challenges he was facing and to make the incremental improvements in his recovery more visible in real time. Fetterman, after spending much of the summer off the campaign trail, began ramping up his activity in the weeks leading up to the debate. “Their team has been ignoring what tons of strategists and insiders have been saying for months: We’ve expressed our concerns many, many times about being more transparent,” the source said, who asked for anonymity to speak candidly about the race. “It’s OK to have a medical issue — you just have to be transparent about it.” The alarm is also acute in Democratic circles beyond Pennsylvania. “It was startling,” said a senior Senate Democratic aide who has worked on political campaigns. “I really question the judgment that he continued with this race.”
similarly, the liberal/democratic spin was written pre-debate as well, and we're seeing spewed forth verbatim in this thread.
I fully agree @J.R. they never should have let him debate. I don't know enough about PA politics to know whether he should have dropped out. Was there another electable candidate? No clue. But the debate? No way. He could have danced around that.
The Republicans attack on Fetterman is fair game, because the Democrats went after Mark Kirk a decade ago. I have had family members suffer strokes and it takes a while to get back to normal, and I don't doubt that is the case with Fetterman too. It is too bad because Fetterman is a very gifted politician.
If I ever found myself at a place in life where I was simping for Dr. Oz I'd probably not be far off from killing myself
Walker is running in Georgia That’s the SEC Fetterman is Pennsylvania that’s Big 10. the D&D doesn’t get that it’s not the same. Plus if they had a race , Hershel is faster than Fetterman Hello good night
That's what the doctors say. If they are wrong, then he has speech difficulties. Big deal. If he isn't able to perform the job, he can resign and the new governor can replace him and they can run a new election. No harm to the country even in the worst case scenario, which makes your comparison to a President even more laughable.