The liberal broadcast networks tried to keep former Gov. CBS Mornings tried its best to pull Pennsylvania’s Lt. Gov. Charlie Crist (D-FL). John Fetterman (D), won the race against Republican Dr. Mehmet O. CBS’ chief campaign and election correspondent Robert Costa had a simple message for voters who weighed Fetterman’s health in their vote: Let it go.
Costa spent the second part of his piece on Fetterman’s Health. He ended with a clip of Fetterman, mentally and physically limited, struggling through one of his rare stump speeches.
“Fetterman, who suffered a stroke in May has been reassuring voters that his willingness to serve is there. Costa explained that Costa’s doctor also wrote a letter stating that the candidate has no restrictions on work and can continue to work full-time in public office.
Costa’s problem? Costa chose to ignore that he is both a Fetterman donor and supporter thanks to the Washington Free Beacon.
Costa stated that “Fetterman’s use a captioning device” will be displayed during the debate and asked passersby in State College, Pennsylvania this weekend.
After one person said that no one should be shamed for using things to make things more accessible, and another seemed indifferent to the idea, Costa brought in a Poynter expert to explain why alleged Fetterman-related talk needs to stop.
AL TOMPKINS – It’s getting too much attention.
COSTA: According to Al Tompkins, a media observer. More than half of voters agree that Fetterman’s health should not be discussed during debate.
TOMPKINS – I believe people care about things such as inflation and crime, international relations, trust and government. These are all important issues to people.
Costa began his visit to Fetterman’s well-being on a positive note. He said that “a lot is at stake” and Oz was focusing on crime, “link[ing] Fetterman with President Biden.”
The former conservative reporter quickly defended Fetterman and Keystone State lefties, even though “on the economic economy, pain is obvious”: “Across, the ballot, the Republican push for crime has led other Democrats, including the state’s attorney General and Democratic gubernatorial candidate, to push back.”
NBC’s Today on briefly covered Fetterman in its midterms report. Thanks to Hallie Jackson, Washington correspondent, who previews the “Keystone clash”, NBC’s Today on briefly touched on Fetterman.
Jackson, however, mentioned that Fetterman’s campaign is “downplaying expectation after a stroke five month ago that affected his speech”. He sent a memo calling the rumble “unprecedented”, previewing the possibility of awkward pauses and missing words, and pointing out that the live captioning process they use may also cause delays or errors in the exchanges.
On ABC’s Good Morning America Rick Klein, the political director, focused only on the midterms in general (click “expand”)
This is the most fundamental question: Do you want a Democrat to control Congress? You could see that Democrats were actually leading up to a few days ago, but Republicans have slipped ahead in the last few days. They are up by half a point. Here’s the problem. Because of the way the districts are drawn, Democrats will usually outperform Republicans by a few points[.]
(….)
According to our partners at fivethirtyeight, Democrats have a slightly better chance than a coin flip, 55 out 100 chance of winning the Senate. However, we have the only Senate debate here in Pennsylvania. If John Fetterman can defeat Dr. Oz in today’s first debate, Democrats have a three to four chance of winning the Senate. This is just based on one race. Republicans are on offense in many places, but they’re not on defense. Perhaps Nevada is their best chance for a pickup. Senator Catherine Cortez Masto is one of the most vulnerable Democrats in the country. If Nevada turns red, Republicans have a seven-in-ten chance based on that race.
(….)
You can see that Democrats are fighting a lot. They have a lot to lose. All these things point in the same direction. Republicans…just have to flip about five seats to take over the majority….Fivethirtyeight has run just about every possible scenario and…Republicans are heavily favored, about an eight in ten chance to take over the House.
Advertisers such as Ashley Homestore (on CBS), Home Depot(on NBC) and IHOP (on ABC) made Tuesday’s attempt at Fetterman cover possible. Follow these links to view their contact information on the MRC’s Conservatives Fight Back Page.
For ABC, CBS and NBC, click here for the transcripts.
