The picture above certainly does not represent what the atypical senator may look like, but many people are wondering if John Fetterman will shake up the Senatorial campaign in Pennsylvania against Senator Pat Toomey. John Fetterman is the 3rd democrat to declare that he is running for Senator in PA (against Joe Sestak and Katie McGinty). Fetterman is a 6'8" ex-lineman from a small town, so what kind of campaign could he run? Fetterman told his supporters that he would have the campaign funds to compete with both of his democratic colleagues in the race, and he even argued "I’ve raised as much money as my Democratic opponents have, the only difference is the money I’ve raised over the past six or seven years has been to improve my community.”
I think it is very possible that someone like John Fetterman could make some major waves among his Pennsylvania constituents. Democratic voters may want to see something different, rather than vote for an insider, they may choose to vote for someone who has a "citizen" like appeal to him. Fetterman can definitely be viewed as an Outsider, which may grant him success at least early on in the campaign. Think about people like Trump or Carson in the GOP campaign for president - they have garnered some serious support and popularity through being political "outsiders" and although Fetterman is already a mayor, he does not have the political background that Sestak or McGinty has. Regardless of whether Fetterman actually wins the primary or not, he certainly will make it more competitive for his other running mates, by stealing votes away from either Sestak or McGinty which they would otherwise receive. It'll certainly be interesting to see what Sestak and McGinty do in order to try and get their votes back from the political outsider, John Fetterman.
2 comments:
This is so interesting—Fetterman definitely does not fit the traditional image of a Senator. Because Pennsylvania tends to lean Republican, I wonder if the Democrat challengers will stand much of a chance at beating Toomey, who not only has an advantage as an incumbent but is also serving with Bob Casey, a Democrat. The last time both U.S. Senators from PA were Democrats was in the 1940s (exlcuding Specter's party change at the end of his last term—he was effectively a Democrat serving as a Republican) (Wikipedia), so Fetterman would be facing a difficult race even if he were able to make it past the primary. However, I also wonder if people in Pennsylvania are progressive enough, on the whole, to elect someone with Fetterman's appearance. That's not to say that there is anything wrong or unprofessional about a man with a shaved head and myriad tattoos, but many people in our society attach a stigma to these attributes that certainly associates them with a lack of professionalism and an inherent deviance (Goffman; Falk). Thus, it will be incredibly difficult for Fetterman to beat Sestak and McGinty in the primary—the former was Toomey's Democratic challenger in 2010, who fared quite well and received 49% in the general election; the latter was a candidate for PA Governer in the 2014 Democratic primary and subsequently served as winning candidate Tom Wolf's Chief of Staff during the first few months of his tenure as PA Governer. With both of these challengers having the advantage of name recognition, coupled with Fetterman's appearance that is unfortunately stigmatized in contemporary U.S. society, Fetterman's campaign and influence on the other candidates' campaigns will be interesting to watch.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_Senators_from_Pennsylvania
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate_election_in_Pennsylvania,_2010
For more on stigma, see:
Falk, Gerhard. "Stigma: How We Treat Outsiders"
Goffman, Erving. "Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity"
Like Jeffrey, I think that John Fetterman seems like such an interesting Senatorial candidate. I'm in the Political Science Senior CUE right now, and one of the things we've spent a lot of time talking about is how elections are based more on visual appeal and the voters' emotional response than on the substance of the campaign. Fetterman certainly doesn't have the polished look of your run of the mill political candidate, but his punk rock appearance and vibe may appeal to a constituency that is disappointed in the way Congress is running and looking for someone fresh and new to mix things up. I'll be interested to follow Fetterman's campaign, and I can't wait to see what exciting and new ideas he will bring to the primary!
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