Joseph Sabino Mistick: Defining moments from the Oz-Fetterman debate

The long-awaited debate last week between Lt. Gov. John Fetterman and Dr. Mehmet Oz in the race to become Pennsylvania’s newest U.S. senator produced far more flash than substance, but each candidate gave one response that defined his performance over the whole hour.

Fetterman hesitated for too long and then stumbled over the question of his flip-flop on fracking. And Oz stated that a woman’s life-or-death health care decisions should be made by local politicians, not just by her and her physician. Since the debate, those two snippets continue to make news.

As political theater, which is what televised campaign debates have become, Fetterman probably would have always been outperformed by Oz, a skilled veteran television pitchman who has achieved fame and fortune promoting and profiting from alternative health cures, more than a few of them questionable.

But Fetterman’s ongoing recovery from the stroke that he suffered before the spring primary election changed the dynamics of the debate. Many viewers were stunned as Fetterman read the questions from a closed-caption monitor and struggled to respond.

As John Hendrickson wrote in The Atlantic after the debate, it became a “Rorschach test of comfort with disability.” In real time, Fetterman worked through the auditory processing disorder that often afflicts stroke victims. This became a test to see if voters could admire “his courage for debating at all.”

Oz’s critical moment during the debate came when he was asked about his position on abortion rights after the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade.

It should have been easy for Oz, the Republican nominee in a state in which millions of dollars have been spent on ads condemning extreme Republican positions on reproductive rights. But, by introducing some new elements to the process, Oz careened off track and blew it.

“I want women, doctors, local political leaders, letting the democracy that’s always allowed our nation to thrive to put the best ideas forward so states can decide for themselves,” Oz said.

Are there Pennsylvania women who would be comfortable with “local political leaders” weighing in on the personal health decisions that they are making with their doctors? Are there Pennsylvania women who would be comfortable “letting the democracy” play a role in what can become personal life-or-death decisions?

When many Republicans are distancing themselves from the extreme positions of Republican governor candidate Sen. Doug Mastriano, Oz embraced them. He managed to snatch a measure of defeat from the jaws of what could have been an easy debate victory.

After the debate, the Fetterman campaign raised nearly $2 million based upon that answer, and by the next morning Democrats were running anti-Oz ads using Oz’s own words.

How much the debate will matter on Election Day is anybody’s guess. As of debate night, according to the U.S. Elections Project, at least 635,000 mail-in ballots had been cast, which is 48% of the mail-in ballots requested.

Many — perhaps most — voters are voting for party, blue shirts or red shirts, regardless of the candidates’ performances. Some experts are predicting an undervote for the Senate, with many voters simply not voting for either candidate.

This debate was hard to watch for both sides, and it will not be easily forgotten.