DV Journal

Dr. Mehmet Oz’s bedside manner was on display during a campaign visit to Media Thursday, where he met with small business owners.

The Republican U.S. Senate candidate stopped at Giovanni’s Media Barber Shop where owner Nichole Missino warmly greeted him. Missino is also a GOP candidate for state representative challenging Democratic incumbent Jennifer O’Mara in the 165th District. She is known as one of the small business owners who defied the COVID closure orders and reopened her business with personal protective equipment.

Oz asked her whether it was difficult to hire people. Last summer Missino had problems finding people because they would fill out applications just to stay on unemployment. But recently she had six qualified people apply for a job opening.

“I hope the economy will start coming back,” she said.  Many of her customers have remained loyal.

(From left) Congressional candidate David Galluch, RNC Co-Chair Tommy Hicks, Nichole Missino, Dr. Mehmet Oz and state Rep. Chris Quinn

“They talk a lot of politics here,” said Missino. “They know I’m running. And they all talk about inflation. We just had to raise our prices in April.”

“My main thing is I’m fighting for freedom,” she pointed out. “I fought for freedom for my employees. I want to fight for freedom for people in my district…I just want to get in there and help people.  I’m an unconventional candidate for unconditional times. You don’t usually see anyone running for office who is covered in tattoos.”

“The gas (cost) is killing everybody. It’s insane,” she said.

After someone mentioned that he was getting a bit shaggy, Oz took a turn in the barber’s chair, allowing Missino to give him a trim. Oz said during the pandemic his daughter, who is a chef, cut his hair.

“For a long time during COVID, my daughter cut my hair. She’s pretty good with scissors and a knife,” Oz said. “I feel so pampered,” he told Missino.

While he was getting his trim, the Delaware Valley Journal asked Oz why voters who are leaning toward his opponent, Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, should vote for him instead.

“It’s one simple decision. If you think the country is going in the right direction, then John Fetterman is going to pull the president even further in that direction. If you’re worried about where we’re going, I’m the other solution, a person for change. And I’m outside the system. John’s been in politics for years. He’s part of the establishment. And he’s one of the ones in charge of COVID management, some of the issues these folks are worried about. And I was the one pushing back for science to be the driving force behind many of our decisions.

“And for energy policy, where scientifically speaking we’re very wise if we use natural gas, it’s such a clean source of energy, as we transition to green,” Oz said. “I also feel the same about the values we share with our kids…Early on in the pandemic I kept saying if you mix politics and medicine, you get politics.

“You don’t want politics involved,” he said. “Give people the autonomy to make their own decisions as much as possible.”

Oz also visited Kenny’s Flower Shoppe and spoke with owner Joyce Walker, a former special education teacher. Some of her employees are special needs individuals, she said. She shared her experiences, telling Oz about how an active shooter training had affected her so profoundly that she left the profession.

“My very last day of teaching… we had to go through armed shooter training. With the FBI. And the first thing they did was show us actual video of 5 and 6 year-olds in a shooting. It was very, very devastating to think, ‘I am that last line of defense.’”

“I’d love (violence) to be addressed by everybody…to hear the stories every day from Philadelphia…No matter how many flowers I bring to funerals you never get used to it. You can’t. (In Delaware County) an Asian man was going too slow and a guy got out at the light and shot his head off in front of his wife.”

Walker wiped back tears and Oz enveloped her in a hug.

“We’ve been through a massive experiment that failed,” said Oz. “We’ve got to restore a sense of civility to the city.  What bothered me most of all of these shootings, it hit me hard, was the South Street (shooting). I took my wife there on our first date.”

Oz asked Walker about other experiences as an educator and how to reach children who are falling through cracks in the system. He mentioned visiting charter schools in Chester County that are doing a good job educating minority children.

She said while small classes help, parents who are not working several jobs to support their family and can be with their children should help with homework.

To survive the pandemic, Walker opened an online shop and would offer to arrange flowers from people’s gardens for funerals when commercial flowers were unavailable.

Because of high gas prices, she now calls to make sure someone is home before making a delivery so the driver does not have to make a return trip to a house.

Democrats have made allegations that Oz is a resident of New Jersey, not Pennsylvania, their top attack. Asked about the issue, Oz shrugged it off.

“I’ll tell you what the data shows. People much care more about what you stand for than where you’re from. If that’s the best they can do, I’m in pretty good shape.”

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It is summertime and many Delaware Valley families are heading to the New Jersey shore to spend a week or two enjoying the sun and sand.

However, when the COVID pandemic hit in 2020, Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration had the state locked down. Some 88 percent of Pennsylvania residents canceled their vacations.

But not the Fettermans.

Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, The Washington Free Beacon reports, spent a week at the Jersey shore with his family despite his own advice to other Pennsylvania residents to stay in quarantine and wear their masks. Fetterman supported Gov. Tom Wolf’s statewide shutdowns. 

Even as Thanksgiving approached in 2020, Fetterman and the Wolf administration were asking residents to wear a mask, social distance, and not travel.

And Fetterman, now running for the U.S. Senate, was protected by a State Police security detail that kept him and his family safe while they were in Ocean City, N.J. The state paid $3,500 for the officers’ overtime, food, and lodging.

“Apparently rules don’t apply to John Fetterman, even when Fetterman champions them himself. While Pennsylvanians had their freedoms trampled and their lives crippled by COVID lockdowns and school closures under John Fetterman’s watch, Fetterman showed he can’t be trusted to do what’s right. Pennsylvanians can see right through his hypocrisy,” said Brittany Yanick, communications director for Dr. Oz for Senate.

Fetterman’s campaign declined to comment.

However, Fetterman campaign spokesman Joe Calvello told The Free Beacon that Alleghany County was not in lockdown at the time. And, he said, Fetterman has never claimed reimbursement for travel expenses and that he cut expenses for the lieutenant governor’s office during his tenure.

“John and his family do take modest summer vacations like many folks in Pennsylvania,” Calvello said.

Fetterman, who has been taking time off from the campaign trail to recover from a stroke, is expected to attend a private fundraising event in Montgomery County on July 21.

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A group of Republicans and former Republicans is backing Attorney General Josh Shapiro, the Democratic nominee for governor, instead of GOP nominee state Sen. Doug Mastriano. They say they find Mastriano’s views too extreme.

Former Bucks County Congressman Jim Greenwood called Mastriano “unacceptable” and cited a list of reasons why he could not support his party’s nominee including that Mastriano attended the Jan. 6 rally, is pro-life, supports President Donald Trump’s position that the 2020 election was stolen, is against gun control, and is against gay marriage.

“He’s just not the kind of Republican that used to lead our party, people like Dick Thornburgh, who was a terrific governor of Pennsylvania, and (the late senators) Arlen Specter and John Heinz. I’m concerned,” said Greenwood.

“He’s a Trump acolyte and I’m a very strong never-Trumper,” he said.

Greenwood raised $2 million to support President Joe Biden in 2020, escorted Biden when he visited Bucks County, and wrote op-eds endorsing the Democrat when he was running for president.

As for Dr. Mehmet Oz, the Republican candidate for Senate, Greenwood said he will “probably not” support him.

“I watched him turn himself into something he wasn’t in order to gain Trump’s endorsement,” said Greenwood.

Lita Cohen, a former state representative from Lower Merion, told Delaware Valley Journal she has not been a registered Republican since she retired in 2002.  She supports Shapiro because she believes he is “brilliant” and ethical.

“He’s unusual for someone active in politics that is his moral and ethical standards are above and beyond reproach…He doesn’t deviate from what is right and proper,” she said.

“We have an extraordinary human being, who’s a lawyer and could be making a fortune in private practice but instead he’s chosen public service jobs,” said Cohen.

Republican consultant Craig Snyder, who was Specter’s chief of staff, is leading the group of Republicans who back Shapiro.

He noted Mastriano received “just over 40 percent of the slightly more than one-third of registered Republicans who voted in the primary. In other words, a minority of a minority. He won fair and square under the rules of the current system, but that system clearly favors extremists and therefore the majority of both Republicans and Pennsylvanians do not have to walk off the cliff with this nominee.”

Asked whether he supports Oz, Snyder said, “I’m not personally endorsing Oz, but given that the Democrats also nominated someone I see as an extremist, with the candidacy of (Lt. Gov. John) Fetterman, I think lots of folks are going to split their tickets and vote Shapiro/Oz.”

And Snyder said, “Absolutely not,” when asked if he would support another run by Trump. “A second Trump term poses an unprecedented threat to American democracy,” he said.

Mastriano did not respond to a request for comment. However, he may have the last laugh, having snared Trump’s endorsement.

Conservative commentator Kathy Barnette, who ran for Senate and campaigned with Mastriano, weighed in.

“These are the same people in the Republican Party who are demanding that conservatives, who find Mehmet Oz an unconscionable choice, shut up, line up, hold their nose, and vote for Oz. They are hypocrites, to put it nicely,” said Barnette.

“Many Pennsylvanians have lived through two of the worst years of their lives under the totalitarian rule of (Gov.) Tom Wolf,” Barnette added. “Now, with Mastriano in a statistical tie for first place, we have a very real opportunity to get a leader in office who believes in preserving individual freedom, energy independence, and cheap gas. And now, like clockwork, RINO Republicans are fighting against him.”

The list of Republicans released by the Shapiro campaign includes Charlie Dent, former congressman, Lehigh County; Sandra Schultz Newman, a former Pennsylvania Supreme Court justice from Montgomery County; Denny O’Brien, Former Speaker of the House, Philadelphia County; Dave Steil, former state representative, former Lt. Gov. Robert Jubelirer of Blair County; Morgan Boyd, chairman, Lawrence County Board of Commissioners; and Ken Davis, former Montgomery County GOP chairman.

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Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney wants to live in an America without the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. In fact, he even has a name for this place. “Canada.”

Kenney made his comments to reporters on July 4th after two police officers were struck by gunfire at the Wawa Welcome America Concert on the Parkway.

“It was a chilled-back day, beautiful weather. But we live in America where we have the Second Amendment, and we have the Supreme Court of the United States telling everybody they can carry a gun wherever they want,” the mayor said. “I was in Canada two weeks ago and never thought about a gun. The only people I knew who had guns in Canada were police officers.”

Kenney added, “If I had the ability to take care of guns, I would. But the legislature won’t let us. Congress won’t let us. The governor does the best he can. The attorney general does the best he can. But this is a gun country.”

In the same conversation, Kenney also complained about his job and said he will be “happy” when he is no longer mayor

“There’s not an event or a day where I don’t lay on my back and look at the ceiling and worry about stuff,” he said. “So everything we have in the city for the last seven years, I worry about. I don’t enjoy the 4th of July. I don’t enjoy the Democratic National Convention. I didn’t enjoy the NFL draft. I’m waiting for something bad to happen all the time. So I’ll be happy when I’m not here, when I’m not mayor and I can enjoy some stuff.”

Dr. Mehmet Oz, the Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, called on Kenney to “immediately resign.”

“Mayor Kenney should resign from office. Kenney’s comments about how he will be happy when he is no longer mayor further indicate he has given up on Philadelphia. John Fetterman, Larry Krasner, and Jim Kenney all support the failed policies that coddle criminals, provide sanctuary to dangerous illegal aliens and put dangerous criminals back out on the street. These radical far-left policies have led to record-breaking homicides and unprecedented rates of violent crime in Philadelphia and across the commonwealth. Worse still, Fetterman would go further by releasing one-third of all criminals and reducing sentences for murderers. We need to restore safety and security to Philadelphia and all of Pennsylvania–it begins by getting rid of Kenney, Krasner, and Fetterman.”

Lt. Gov. John Fetterman is the Democratic candidate for the Senate. He did not directly address Kenney’s remarks or Oz’s rebuke. Instead, he railed against “gun violence” on Twitter and called for an end to the Senate filibuster.

“There is a sad irony in experiencing multiple mass shootings on a day meant to celebrate our freedom. We wish the law enforcement officers injured in the Philly shooting a safe + quick recovery,” Fetterman tweeted.

“We cannot become numb to ever-increasing gun violence. Washington needs to act + take on the NRA by prosecuting gun dealers whose weapons routinely wind up at crime scenes. And Democrats in the Senate need to scrap the filibuster + immediately pass common-sense reform,” said Fetterman.

Kenney’s attack on the Second Amendment drew responses from residents of the Delaware Valley.

“I saw a movie about a country where only the police and military had guns. It was called ‘Schindler’s List,’” said Wayne resident and firearms instructor Frank Tait.

“His failure to put competent leadership in the Philly Police Department. And to have a progressive DA only exasperated this crime problem,” said a Radnor resident who collects antique firearms. “Revolving door justice and letting repeat offenders of serious crimes out on no bail is a joke. Only when the Feds stepped into the car carjacking crimes have strong sentences been imposed. But Philly people get what they vote for. When you have an 18 percent turnout in a primary (in the DA’s race), that speaks volumes. Maybe he’d be better off in Canada?”

Kim Stolfer, president of Firearm Owners Against Crime,  was unimpressed by Kenney’s comments. “Well, thankfully, it isn’t up to him. And thankfully, he owns all the violence that’s in Philadelphia.

“The fact is, this is part of the broad brush that is being used by Democrats to paint 100 million gun owners in this country for a dozen mass murders,” Stolfer added.

The Republican nominee for Congress in the 4th District, Christian Nascimento, also called on Kenney to resign.

“Jim Kenney has given up on stopping crime. He has given up on Philadelphia. He has given up on police and their families. Today I call on Mayor Kenney to resign his seat as Philadelphia mayor. And if Congresswoman (Madeleine) Dean has a shred of integrity and even the smallest amount of concern and support for police and for the safety of district families, she will join me in calling for Kenney’s immediate resignation today.”

Attorney General  Josh Shapiro, the Democrat running for governor, said he would protect Second Amendment rights.

“I’ll be a strong defender of Second Amendment rights and a strong defender of making sure law-abiding citizens have the ability to bear arms. But we must make sure that those who are criminals — those who shouldn’t have access to guns — can’t get them,” Shapiro told 6 News.

By Tuesday afternoon, Kenney had apologized for his comments about no longer wanting to be mayor. “I apologize for being frustrated, but I do take my job personally and I take the problems we face personally,” he said. “And I apologize for wearing my emotions on my sleeve.”

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Perhaps more famous for inspiring social media memes than for writing legislation, Democratic New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) — aka “AOC” — endorsed Pennsylvania Senate candidate John Fetterman Wednesday.

On her Instagram account, where else?

Along with a clip of her star turn on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” where she touted the Green New Deal, ending the filibuster and packing the Supreme Court, AOC wrote this underneath: “We are not powerless, and we are never beyond hope. History shows us the way. We can do more to pursue these items more aggressively. And then once we do, we can secure the W and turn out the vote for @JohnFetterman in PA…this November: Expansion of SCOTUS; End the Senate filibuster; Repeal the Hyde amendment; Codify Roe, same-sex marriage, right to contraception and interracial marriage. Thanks for having me @colbertlateshow”

Fetterman’s campaign did not responded to avrequest for comment concerning AOC’s endorsement.

His Republican opponent, Dr. Mehmet Oz, tweeted: DC Socialist Dream Team playbook: Anti-PA energy, Job killing policies, Radical socialists. Fetterman and AOC might be a match made in heaven, but their policies are wrong for PA.

However, earlier this month the National Republican Senatorial Committee ran commercials linking Fetterman to Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, an avowed socialist who ran for president as a Democrat.

The contest between Lt. Governor Fetterman and celebrity heart surgeon Dr. Oz has drawn national attention, particularly with the Senate split 50/50. While many believe the 2022 midterms will bring a Red Wave sweeping Congress comparable to the 2010 midterms, it remains to be seen whether notoriously purple Pennsylvania will follow that pattern.

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No matter your views on abortion, today is a day when the U.S. Supreme Court changed history with its Dobbs ruling. And political leaders from Delaware Valley and in races for state office are speaking out about what the historic decision means for Pennsylvania.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Josh Shapiro tweeted: “This is a devastating day in America. A woman’s right to choose now depends on the state in which she lives, and the decision will be made by our next Governor. Doug Mastriano will ban abortion with no exceptions. I will keep abortion legal.”

Writing as attorney general, Shapiro also sent this email: “The Dobbs decision will go down as a shameful moment for our country and for the Court. Today, five Supreme Court Justices upended fifty years of settled law and subjected the health and private lives of millions of American women to the whims of politicians. As a result of today’s decision, every American’s personal freedoms now depend on the state in which they live. Here in Pennsylvania, decisions about your bodies will now be left to elected officials in Harrisburg– giving those politicians more power than women in our commonwealth.”

State Sen. Doug Mastriano, the Republican candidate for governor, told the Delaware Valley Journal, “Roe v. Wade is rightly relegated to the ash heap of history. As the abortion debate returns to the states, Pennsylvania must be prepared to lead the nation in being a voice for the voiceless.

“While this decision by the U.S. Supreme Court is a triumph for innocent life, it must not take our focus away from the key issues facing Pennsylvania families.

“Pennsylvanians will not be distracted by the hysterics of the left as they exploit this ruling to try to fulfill their far-left agenda,” Mastriano continued, “as they struggle with all-time record-high inflation, the price of gas and groceries, as well as out-of-control crime and good-paying jobs – which is exactly why I will prioritize these issues as their governor,” Mastriano said.

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dr. Memhet Oz tweeted: “The Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade is to many considered controversial. I respect those with a different view, but as a heart surgeon I’ve held the smallest of human hearts in the palm of my hand, and I will defend the sanctity of life. I am relieved that protecting the lives of America’s unborn children will once again be decided by the people through their elected representatives. As we lift up life, we must focus on the needs of mothers and children, for whom this decision can be the greatest gift of all.”

Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, a Democrat running for Senate, tweeted, “In Pennsylvania, the Governor’s pen will either protect abortion rights or eliminate them. The stakes can’t be any higher. We MUST elect @JoshShapiroPA He has been an absolute advocate of protecting abortion rights here in Pennsylvania. There is too much on the line.”

And in a statement, Fetterman said, “Deciding how and when to become a mother is a decision that should always be made by a woman and her doctor—not politicians. If there were any doubts left about what’s at stake in this race, it became crystal clear today. The right to an abortion will be on the ballot this November in Pennsylvania.  I will protect abortion rights. Dr. Oz will take them away. It’s that simple.”

How will the decision impact November’s election?

“I think the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe and Casey will undoubtedly become an important part of the fall campaign messaging,” said Berwood A. Yost, director of the Floyd Institute for Public Policy and the Center for Opinion Research at Franklin & Marshall College. “The abortion decision will be a catalyst for some voters, as will the recent decision on guns. In fact, the 2022 midterms are going to have many things for voters to think about, including their feelings about the economy, the direction of the state, and the state’s electoral procedures to name just a few others.

“The most important result of the recent Supreme Court decisions, from a political standpoint, is that they give Democratic candidates something to talk about other than the economy and the president’s performance in office, which most voters don’t feel good about,” said Yost. “It allows them to motivate their base voters and perhaps remind those with weak party attachments about what the consequences of their choice, or failure to choose, might be.”

Christopher P. Borick, political science professor and director of the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion, said the Supreme Court’s decision could be very important for the Pennsylvania governor’s race.

Other elected officials also weighed in.

“Today’s decision upends almost a half-century of legal precedent and rips away a constitutional right that generations of women have known their entire lives. This dangerous ruling won’t end abortions in this country, but it will put women’s lives at risk,” said U.S. Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) via Twitter.

And U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) tweeted, “The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization restores the American people’s ability to determine abortion laws through their elected representatives, as the Constitution requires. Precedents that are wrongly decided should be overturned, just as Brown v. Board of Education was right to overturn Plessy v. Ferguson. This ruling is a win for the unborn, the Constitution, and democratic governance.”

“I was 13 when Roe became law of the land. 50 years later an extreme right-wing court has now ended the constitutional right to abortion – politicians can now control a women’s body. I have tears of anger — girls like my 10-year-old granddaughter have less rights than me at 13,” tweeted U.S. Rep. Madeleine Dean (D-Montgomery).

Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon (D-Delaware/Philadelphia) called the decision “unprecedented” and said it “will have a devastating impact across our country. It is rare in the United States for millions of Americans to wake up with fewer rights than they had the day before, but that is precisely what the court has done here.”

She went on to call it “misguided” and “dangerous.”

U.S. Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-Chester/Berks) tweeted: “In less than 24 hours, the SCOTUS has ruled that states do NOT have the right to enact measures to protect from gun violence but simultaneously DO have the right to restrict a woman’s right to choose. This isn’t about state’s rights—it’s about advancing a political agenda.”

Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Bucks) said, “As state legislatures across America begin to consider legislation on this extremely sensitive topic in response to today’s Supreme Court decision in Dobbs, I urge all state legislatures to always start from a place of empathy and compassion. Any legislative consideration must start with the process of seeing the world through other people’s eyes, and walking the world in other people’s shoes.

“Any legislative consideration must always seek to achieve bipartisan consensus that both respects a woman’s privacy and autonomy, and also respects the sanctity of human life. These principles are not mutually exclusive; both can and must be achieved…At the core of our democracy must always be the goal of building bridges, not driving wedges.”

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If the latest polls are any indication, Republicans Doug Mastriano and Dr. Mehmet Oz have their work cut out for them.

A USA Today/Suffolk poll released Wednesday showed they are trailing Democrats Josh Shapiro and John Fetterman in the race for Pennsylvania governor and U.S. Senator.

In the poll of 500 likely voters, Attorney General Shapiro led Mastriano, a state senator from Franklin County, 44 to 40 percent. Minor party candidates totaled 3 percent and 13 percent were undecided. The poll has a 4.4 margin of error.

Oz tallied at 37 percent and Fetterman, now serving as lieutenant governor, at 46 percent.  Minor party candidates came in at 16 percent and 13 percent were undecided.

And 26 percent of the voters thought the economy was the most important issue, followed by gun control. And just as in the rest of the country, President Joe Biden’s approval rating is underwater in Pennsylvania.

Some 38 percent approved Biden’s job performance while 54 percent disapproved.

In 2018, 48 percent of Pennsylvania voters were registered as Democrats and 40 percent were Republicans. Today, the Democratic Party registration advantage has been reduced to 45 percent-41 percent among active voters, said David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center.

“Even with Democratic party registration dwindling in Pennsylvania, both Fetterman and Shapiro are adopting a more populist approach to midterm voters and winning independents,” Paleologos said. “Voters say they are unhappy with the economy in Pennsylvania and President Biden’s job approval, yet these particular Democrats are threading the needle thus far.”

Robin Kolodny, chair of the political science department at Temple University, thinks voters have a lot of information about the candidates already.

“What these polls show is that most Pennsylvanians are already familiar with the candidates and have formed opinions about them,” she said.  “The campaigns still have months to go to try to change voters’ minds, but these early polls underscore how competitive both races will be.”

However, Liz Preate Havey, who chairs the Montgomery County Republicans, believes the Republicans will prevail this year.

“I think people will vote their pocketbook,” said Havey. “There’s a lot of energy upset and anger against the Democrats in general and, according to polls, independents are dramatically breaking for Republicans two and three to one at this point.”

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Speaking at the AFL-CIO Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia on Tuesday, President Biden pushed the blame for inflation on Republicans, including record-high gas prices.

Biden said he has a plan to bring down inflation, now at a 40-year high of 8.6 percent, and record-high gas prices, which are up more than $2.30 a gallon since Biden took office. But Republicans won’t let him execute it, he said.

“Under my plan for the economy, we made extraordinary progress, and put America in a position to tackle a worldwide problem that’s worse everywhere but here: inflation,” Biden said.

“The problem is, Republicans in Congress are doing everything they can to stop my plans to bring down costs on ordinary families,” Biden added. “That’s why my plan is not finished, and the results aren’t finished either.”

While the president was surrounded by prominent Democrats, Attorney General Josh Shapiro, the Democratic nominee for governor, was noticeably absent. Across the country, Democrats campaigning in swing states have been less-than-enthusiastic about campaigning with the unpopular incumbent as the midterms approach.

In Colorado, Sen. Michael Bennet said he “hadn’t really thought about it” when asked if he’d welcome President Biden to join him on the campaign trail. Earlier this year, vulnerable Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) was also non-committal. “I’m focused on, right now, on things Arizonans care about, like the price of gasoline and groceries,” he said.

A spokesman for the Republican Governors Association (RGA) accused Shapiro of trying to hide his support for the president.

“Joe Biden’s disastrous policies have created an unsafe and unsustainable environment for Pennsylvania families, and Josh Shapiro has backed him the entire way,” said RGA spokesman Chris Gustafson. “Now that Biden is campaigning in the Keystone State, Shapiro failed to show up in support. Is Shapiro trying to avoid Biden or did convenient ‘scheduling conflicts’ land Shapiro far away from Biden once again?”

Shapiro’s spokeswoman says it was just a case of bad timing.

Shapiro had a previous commitment in Pittsburgh, spokeswoman Molly Stieber said. Shapiro was with the “president in April at the White House for the President’s announcement on closing the ghost gun loophole and was with him in Philadelphia during his last visit,” she noted.

During his speech, Biden urged union members to vote for Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate.

Union membership has dwindled over the years, and with it union power. Only 10.3 percent of the U.S. workforce was represented by a union in 2021, down from more than 30 percent in the 1950s. The numbers are even lower for private-sector employees, where union membership has fallen to 6.1 percent in 2021 from 16.8 percent in 1983, according to Reuters.

And while the president was in Philadelphia talking up union jobs, his administration back in Washington was floating the idea of ending some of the tariffs on Chinese goods put in place by the Trump administration.

“We have said from the beginning, some Trump tariffs were irresponsible, and did not advance our economic or national security and instead raise costs for families and businesses,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told the press traveling with Biden Tuesday.

Republicans were unimpressed.

“Biden talks about his Scranton roots, but he couldn’t care less about the struggles hardworking Pennsylvanians face today,” Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said. “Soaring inflation, record gas prices, and a baby formula shortage are only a few of the crises he’s dealt Keystone State families. Biden’s visit will only serve as a burden for down-ballot Democrats, as Pennsylvania voters will hold him accountable for his failures in November.”

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With the U.S. Senate primary barely in the rearview mirror, Democratic candidate John Fetterman, Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz, and their allies are fielding ads attacking each other.

Fetterman’s campaign sent fundraising emails claiming Oz is still registered to vote in New Jersey.

“I was born + raised here, and now Gisele + I are raising our family here, right across the street from Andrew Carnegie’s first steel mill,” Fetterman says in that email.

A senior Oz campaign official said that Oz, a Huntingdon Valley resident, votes in Pennsylvania and is registered to vote here.

Meanwhile, the National Republican Senatorial Committee launched an ad attacking Fetterman this week, spending $1.5 million to air it until June 16. The ominous-sounding ad paints Fetterman as a socialist who is endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders.

It shows “left-wing radicals rolling into Pennsylvania” with signs reading “government healthcare” and “end fracking” exiting a Fetterman van. The voiceover says Fetterman would cost residents “$50,000 per year.”

And, although Fetterman is recuperating from a stroke and not on the campaign trail at the moment, his campaign has its own ads up, one touting him as an outsider who gets things done titled “Braddock to Washington D.C.” and another that cites his outsider cred.

Oz is already a household name, so he needs little introduction to voters.

“Since being elected lieutenant governor, John Fetterman has spent a good deal of his time working to boost his name ID, through his legalization of marijuana tour and media appearances.  It’s been clear since he was sworn in as lieutenant governor his goal was a higher office. The question is whether it was enough.  The types of ads he is running lead me to believe his campaign doesn’t think so, which is why he is focused on defining himself at the current time,” said Charlie O’Neill, a Republican consultant.

Christopher Borick, professor of political science and director of the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion, said, “Indeed, the general election campaigns are off and running.  In a world where major campaigns are flush with financial resources, the rule is to get your ads up early and establish identities for both you and your opponent.

“Republicans clearly want Pennsylvania voters to see Fetterman more as a socialist and less as the Carhartt wearing advocate for the working class.  They recognize that by doing so they may weaken Fetterman’s appeal among older, more moderate voters in places like the Philly suburbs, and negate some of his potential gains among White working-class voters where his brand has appeal.”

Borick added, “And while many Pennsylvanians know Fetterman through his unique physical image and presentation, the details of his story are not known to many voters in the commonwealth.  Thus, his campaign wants to get that narrative built before Oz and Republicans can build an alternative for many voters that will be harder to undo.”

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Pennsylvania, welcome to the Land of Oz.

Friday, hedge fund CEO David McCormick conceded the Republican Senate primary to Dr. Mehmet Oz. Oz, the television star and cardiothoracic surgeon who had secured the endorsement of former President Donald Trump, is the Republican nominee and will face Democrat  Lt. Gov. John Fetterman in the fall.

Fewer than 1,000 votes separated Oz from McCormick and a state-mandated recount was underway. McCormick had also brought a successful court challenge to get undated ballots counted and had another one pending to have a hand recount in 12 counties.

“We spent the last 17 days making sure every Republican vote was counted,” McCormick said Friday evening. “But it’s now clear to me that with the recount largely complete, that we have a nominee. And today, I called Mehmet Oz to congratulate him on his victory.”

Dr. Oz welcomed the news.

“This evening, I received a gracious phone call from David McCormick and am tremendously grateful for his pledge of support in the fall election,” Oz said in a statement. “We share the goal of a brighter future for Pennsylvania and America. Now that our primary is over, we will make sure that this U.S. Senate seat does not fall into the hands of the radical left, led by John Fetterman. I look forward to campaigning in every corner of the Commonwealth for the next five months to earn the support of every Pennsylvanian.”

McCormick spoke to his supporters and posted the video on his Twitter feed, thanking them, his campaign team and his wife, Dina.

He promised to now lend his support to Oz’s campaign and help unite Republicans and Pennsylvanians behind his former rival.

“It’s so important that we beat John Fetterman and so important for the country that we take back the majority in the Senate in 2022,” said McCormick.

Fetterman welcomed the GOP nominee with a fundraising email mocking Oz.

“Did anyone predict that a quack celebrity TV doctor was going to run for U.S. Senate in 2022? You know, I wouldn’t believe you if you said you did. But here we are. Dr. Oz is now the *official* Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania.

“There are a lot of bad things about Dr. Oz. He’s a self-funded multi-millionaire. He’s a fraudster who made a fortune by lying to people on TV. He called Roe v. Wade ‘wrong’ and supports an extreme total ban on abortions with no exceptions for rape or incest. And look…I never thought this would be a flex, but <checks notes> I actually live in Pennsylvania!!!”

Ironically, Fetterman’s attack on heart surgeon Oz comes as his campaign faces criticism over the candidate hiding his potentially life-threatening heart condition from Democratic primary voters.

“It’s not hard to understand what’s going on here,” said CNN political analyst Chris Cillizza. “Fetterman was the leading Democrat for the state’s open Senate seat. He didn’t want his health to be a top-of-mind issue when voters went to cast their ballots. So, he and his campaign downplayed the severity of his health issues.”

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