PA Political Digest - Have PA partisans flipped sides on Sen. John Fetterman?

Sharp analysis of PA politics and campaigns writ large

Welcome to the Tuesday mid week edition of PPD. I’m your guide - GOP political consultant Christopher Nicholas…you’re one of the 2,100+ people getting PPD each Tuesday and Friday.

The Tuesday essay looks at a possible switcheroo happening with our always-newsy Sr. Senator, Democrat John Fetterman, who continues to dominate the state’s ‘political attention’ economy, as he has for a long time now.

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As we wrote Friday, he and our Republican Senator, Dave McCormick, participated in a debate in Boston, sponsored by the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate and the Orrin G. Hatch Foundation. (It took place at the Kennedy Institute’s full-scale replica of the Senate Chamber.)

Most of the juicy sound bites coming out of the debate involved Fetterman, especially as he sharply criticized his own party on mishandling illegal immigration and on the growing level of antisemitism in key parts of their party infrastructure. (Though more Jews voted Republican last year, most Jews still vote Democratic.)

Inside the full scale replica of the Senate Chamber at the Kennedy Institute, where Sen. Fetterman is free to wear his signature cargo shorts. It’s nice to see our senators getting along and working together, even as they disagree on major issues. Photo via AP.

And a new poll out shows that Fetterman is hemorrhaging support within his own party. As the Philadelphia Inquirer wrote, “A poll conducted last week by a progressive PAC found 65% of likely Democratic primary voters in the state disapprove of how Sen. John Fetterman is doing his job.” (gift link/no paywall)

Pro-tip: 65% is a lot…it’s a bigly number. It’s a number that would guarantee Fetterman a contested Democratic primary in 2028, when he is next up. It’s a number that would make it nearly impossible to win that contested primary. And it’s a number so massive…

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