“Giselle saved my life,” he added.
Fetterman, a spokesman said, had no prepared remarks ahead of the gathering. His return to the trail marked a major step for the candidate, who has only headlined fundraisers and informal campaign rallies while recovering from the stroke, which occurred just days before the Commonwealth Democratic primary.
Fetterman, Pennsylvania’s lieutenant governor, didn’t spend much time outlining his vision for the state or his policy goals during the roughly 11-minute speech, other than to tell supporters they shouldn’t be guessing. his position on key issues such as the Federal minimum wage, protecting access to reproductive care, supporting unions and eliminating the yarn. But he did take a few jabs at Senate candidate Mehmet Oz, saying, “There are a lot of differences between me and Dr. Oz. Who would have thought I’d be the normal one?”
“He doesn’t live here. He’s not for us. He doesn’t care about us,” she said later.
At times, Fetterman’s voice seemed to trail off at the end of a thought. In an interview with CNN affiliate KDKA Thursday night, he acknowledged that he had some lingering issues from the stroke, including auditory processing issues. “I’ll miss a word sometimes, or I might put two words together sometimes in a conversation, but that’s really the only thing and it’s getting better every day,” he said.
Fetterman easily won the primary and spent the next few months recuperating as he looked ahead to the general election against Oz. Pennsylvania’s Senate race to succeed retiring GOP Sen. Pat Toomey represents Democrats’ best chance to pick up a seat in the lopsided Senate during what is expected to be a tough midterm election for President Joe Biden’s party.
Erie is a strategic spot for the Democratic candidate — Erie County voted for Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, then switched to Donald Trump in 2016 before switching back to Democrats in 2020, narrowly supporting Biden. Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf, with Fetterman running mate, carried the county by more than 20 points in 2018.
“If you can’t win Erie County, you can’t win Pennsylvania,” Fetterman said Friday to loud applause.
A long line of voters had gathered outside the Bayfront Convention Center with an air of excitement before the candidate took the stage, eager to hear the Democrat speak.
Bonnie Casane, an Erie resident who described herself as a “strong Fetterman supporter,” told CNN that she used to be an independent but re-registered as a Democrat to vote for Fetterman in the May primary: “Fetterman was the party that changed. yes, so I switched to the Democratic Party.”
“He’s for Pennsylvania, he’s not a politician. He doesn’t have an agenda, and I think his agenda is to make Pennsylvania better,” Casane said, adding that legalizing marijuana, part of Fetterman’s platform, is one of her top priorities .
Mike Dropcho, a retired X-ray technician and former union member, told CNN he likes that Fetterman is “down to earth.”
“It’s not some celebrity that’s just for who knows what,” Dropcho said. “It seems to me that he is someone who is for the people. He is one of us.”
Asked about Fetterman’s health and his return to the campaign trail Friday, Dropso said he was confident Fetterman would return.
“Having worked in the medical field for so long and seeing the reports, I knew he was going to come out OK,” he said.
Despite being off the campaign trail for much of the summer, Fetterman outperformed Oz in the second quarter — bringing in nearly $11 million for the three months ended June 30 compared with about $5.5 million, including 3, 2 million dollars in personal loans, for his opponent. Fetterman also used a barrage of TV ads and digital strategies to try to cast the celebrity doctor as an out-of-state figure who moved to Pennsylvania from New Jersey to run for Senate. Most recently, the campaign paid for a billboard to be displayed on the New Jersey side of the Betsy Ross Bridge outside of Philadelphia. “Now leaving New Jersey for Pennsylvania… as Dr. Oz,” reads the billboard.
Oz’s response — or lack thereof — set off alarm bells in the Republican Party.
A Fox poll released in late July found Fetterman leading Oz by 11 points — 47 percent to 36 percent. The poll also found that Oz’s supporters were far less enthusiastic than Fetterman’s supporters, with 68% of the Democrat’s supporters saying they did so enthusiastically, compared to 35% of Oz’s supporters.
Oz’s campaign has targeted Fetterman’s recent time away from public campaigning.
In a video posted in July, Oz notes that “Fetterman is back on the campaign trail” as he laces up his running shoes.
“I prayed for him. I’m glad he’s okay… Now that he’s back, John Fetterman can’t hide from the voters forever,” Oz says as he jogs off. “I’m glad Fetterman is healthy so we can worry less about his heart and his hood and more about the crazy left-wing ideas in his head.”
