Mr. Fetterman has for years had a complicated relationship with the left, challenging its purity tests while championing some of its causes. During his Senate campaign in 2022, he claimed he had always supported fracking, even though in the past he had said he would “never” support the industry. That year, he also told Jewish Insider that he would always be pro-Israel and “lean in” to strengthening the security of the Jewish state.
Former staff members and supporters suggest there is more at play, both personally and politically. Mr. Fetterman, who swore off social media, and news in general, after his hospitalization for depression, for a time relied on staff to curate a package of clips that kept him up to speed on what he needed to know. But his return to work and sharp break with the left has coincided with a distinct shift to the right in his media diet; he sometimes appears sucked into a vortex dominated by social media, The New York Post and Fox News, where for the first time in his political career, he is receiving approving coverage.
Those who have worked with Mr. Fetterman also suggest that his transformation may be calculated, and that he is carving out what he thinks is a more sustainable and winning lane for himself as a Democrat. Politically, his repudiation of the left has benefited the senator, whose popularity in Pennsylvania polls has increased. A recent Times/Siena poll showed that he has a 48 percent approval rating there, up from 44 percent last October — substantially higher than Mr. Biden, at 41 percent.
“The left should welcome it,” said Rick Wilson, the anti-Trump Republican strategist. “His position in the center left is much more viable in an ongoing political way than the idea of John Fetterman chanting ‘from the river to the sea.’ I don’t think that’s where most Americans’ heads are at. The left should welcome watching something that works.”
He has become a sought-after headliner at state party gatherings across the country: in the past few months, he has been invited to speak at Democratic Party events in Des Moines, Iowa; Reno, Nevada; Broward County, Florida; as well as events in Texas, Wyoming and conferences for the machinists, the teamsters and the realtors unions.
Kaynak: briturkish.com
