Debates about debates between candidates running for office are tedious, as barbs are traded over the number of matchups, the timing, the ground rules. But the one being played out in Pennsylvania between Lt. Gov. John Fetterman (D) and his Republican opponent in the race for U.S. Senate, Mehmet Oz, is worthy of attention. The race might well determine which party controls the Senate, and voters would benefit from seeing the two candidates exchange ideas and test each other. Mr. Fetterman has seemingly been reluctant to commit to firm debate dates, and that troubling stance has raised questions about whether he, still recovering from a serious stroke, is fit to serve in the Senate.
After suffering a stroke in May, Mr. Fetterman was off the campaign trail for three months and has campaigned little since then; he held a rally Sunday. Mr. Oz has pressed for five debates, but Mr. Fetterman dodged and ducked before tentatively agreeing last week to one but not until “sometime in the middle to end of October.” That’s well after Sept. 19, when voters can start casting mail-in ballots, and it’s short of the two debates that had been the standard during recent competitive Senate contests in Pennsylvania.
Since returning to the campaign trail, Mr. Fetterman has been halting in his performances. He stammers, appears confused and keeps his remarks short. He has held no news conferences. Mr. Fetterman acknowledges his difficulties with auditory processing, which make it hard for him to respond quickly to what he’s hearing. He receives speech therapy — and we wish him a speedy, full recovery — but the lingering, unanswered questions about his health, underscored by his hesitation to debate, are unsettling.
The Fetterman campaign squandered credibility by concealing from the public for two days after his stroke that he had been hospitalized. It waited weeks longer to reveal a more complete picture of his medical history, including that he had been diagnosed in 2017 with cardiomyopathy. Mr. Fetterman had a pacemaker with a defibrillator implanted after the stroke. The campaign’s response to questions about Mr. Fetterman’s health is to point to a doctor’s note, released more than 14 weeks ago, which said “he should be able to campaign and serve in the U.S. Senate without a problem” if he takes his medications and exercises.
That’s not good enough. Mr. Fetterman is asking voters for a six-year contract without giving them enough information to make sound judgments about whether he’s up for such a demanding job. We have called for full disclosure of health records from candidates for federal office in both parties, including Donald Trump and Joe Biden, and we believe Mr. Fetterman should release his medical records for independent review.
And he should debate Mr. Oz before voters start casting their ballots. Mr. Oz, for his part, has not exactly conducted himself with glory. The campaign’s offer to fund “any additional medical personnel [Mr. Fetterman] might need to have on standby” during a debate and its mocking comment about Mr. Fetterman not eating enough vegetables were sophomoric and unseemly, made worse by the fact that Mr. Oz is a cardiothoracic surgeon. Both candidates have something to prove to voters, and there is no better forum than a debate.
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