Do you think the Senate Election would have gone differently if the Democrat candidate was like Oz and the Republican Candidate was like Fetterman ?

Submitted by WarHead17 t3_yqj5wi in Pennsylvania

If the democrats had fielded a celebrity doctor carpetbagger type who wore suits and drank wine instead of beer and used fancy language and the republicans had fielded a man of the people hoodie-wearing big skinhead-looking white guy do you think the result would have been different ? (Assuming their policies were both the same as Fetterman and Oz's were respectively, just their appearances, etc were different)

I'm curious how much appearance and personality makes a difference in elections.

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Sovereign2142 t1_ivol14r wrote

There's too much to untangle to give a real answer to this question. Frankly, child of immigrants with degrees from Harvard and UPenn sounds exactly like a candidate that Democrats would typically run. And it is not hard to imagine PA's GOP nominating a Joe-the-Plumber type.

But had that Joe been from New Jersey and insinuated that county clerks should approve abortions, he would have also lost just as bad as Oz did. At the end of the day, the appearances of these candidates didn't really matter, it was their personalities that pushed them over the line or not.

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--Cr1imsoN-- t1_ivoq9kd wrote

>GOP nominating a Joe-the-Plumber type

I think you mean fake "Joe the Plumber type". The GOP never actually fields a real working class candidate. It's always just someone who pretends to care about the working class while actively supporting union busting. Oz is just the GOP finally throwing off the mask.

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No-Professional-1884 t1_ivojjvb wrote

Dems don’t place a lot of value on the candidate being a celebrity. Look at the Al Franken race of 2008 were it came down to 300 votes.

Conservatives seem more inclined to fall for the whole cult of personality thing.

The only thing that I can think of that would come close is Obama’s 2008 run.

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31November t1_ivoqa72 wrote

Was Obama well known pre 2008?

I wasn’t old enough to care about politics, but I was under the impression that he was a law professor and just a junior senator before running, not a big shot?

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_token_black t1_ivou22p wrote

The 2004 Dem convention speech put him on the map.

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31November t1_ivq0dvf wrote

That makes sense now that I wikipedia'd the 2004 DNC Thanks!

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No-Professional-1884 t1_ivp2xnk wrote

He was the junior Senator for Illinois in his first term. He then became a rising star at the ‘04 DNC and decided to run for President while still being very green to national politics.

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STLLC2019 t1_ivoki0e wrote

Same policies, just flipping the "look"?

A suit and tie wearing C-Suite Fetterman would've wiped the floor completely against a hoodie-wearing Oz. Suit wearing Fetterman would've kept his Demcratic base (we generally go by policies and histories instead of looks), and DOMINATED the more Conservative Republicans (who generally go by appearances).

For evidence, look at the Kennedy/Nixon debate. The first Presidential Debate that was simulcast on both radio AND TV.

According to the RADIO audiences, Nixon clearly won the debate. He was articulate, well researched, well reasoned, and presented very well thought out arguments compared to Kennedy's hemming and hawing and constant "errrr...." moments.

But for the TELEVISION audiences, Kennedy won. Nixon appeared uncomfortable, fidgety, and sweating while Kennedy appeared to be cool, confident, and in full control.

Policy vs. Appearance.

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cookiefiend37 t1_ivoo3fy wrote

Fetterman in a suit is basically just Ben Wyatt season 7 P&R and i vote for him in an instant

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Trout-Population t1_ivoou02 wrote

I don't have the slightest idea tbh, but I don't think such a thing would ever occur in the first place.

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Odd_Description_2295 t1_ivou0ba wrote

No republican comes close to fetterman.

No republican has done what fetterman has done so far.

Alot of them talk about bringing jobs back to rustbelt towns, but they never do.

If oz ran under dem. I doubt i would have voted for him, especially if he ran against someone pro union

But the republicans abandoned their pro union roots workers when reagan came around.

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WarHead17 OP t1_ivq2tsc wrote

In this hypothetical the dem would have the same policies as Fetterman just wear suits and drink wine, etc. and the Repub would have the same policies as Oz, just look like and market himself as a man of the people.

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Silly_Throat5915 t1_ivout2u wrote

It would have been a Democrat win by a landslide, Fetterman just proved that Democrats would vote for a potatoe if it was painted blue.

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98Wahwashkesh t1_ivq5gq2 wrote

Yes. But it wasn't appearance so much as Oz being a Muslim. Some bridges are just too far for some Republicans.

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Brigadier_Beavers t1_ivoqegh wrote

I think if fetterman had his stroke 2 months earlier, he wouldve lost last night. All summer he galvanized support from both sides from his policies and his history of legitimately helping his community.

Oz fully relied on empty attack ads and trump's support. If we switch these candidates parties wed have a lackluster biden-supported dem vs a well liked republican community leader. Its no contest.

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_token_black t1_ivotuei wrote

Well if he had a stroke earlier he loses to Lamb so…

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Brigadier_Beavers t1_ivovoew wrote

Also true. I dont like how much this stroke has put people on the fence for voting for fetterman, but i do think his chance to win was fading as time went on.

Either way im glad he won.

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_token_black t1_ivowtih wrote

People are acting like we don’t have a Senate with an average age in the 60s, or that senators have to debate things on the floor. The latter isn’t a thing.

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Doug4Prison t1_ivoiifa wrote

A chud version of Fetterman would wipe the floor with whoever he ran against. Even with garbage politics people would see him and think "he's just like me" and vote for him.

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