Breaking: Trump-Country Pennsylvanians Still Aren't Sold on Dr. Oz
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Republicans and independents in Duncannon, Pa., are not all sold on Republican U.S. Senate candidate Mehmet Oz.
Among the Oz skeptics is George McKelvey, 50, whom National Review spoke to at the local Veterans of Foreign Wars outpost on Monday afternoon. McKelvey offered to speak on behalf of a group sitting near the bar — where a sign with a bald eagle reads "this place is politically incorrect, we say Merry Christmas, one nation under God, we salute our flag and give thanks to our troops. If this offends you, leave."
He said for him and the others seated near him that inflation, the border crisis, and "keeping our nose out of other countries' business" are the top issues.
Duncannon is situated in Perry County, where former president Donald Trump won in 2020, 74.2 percent to President Biden's 24.1 percent. Duncannon's website describes the town of 1,500 people as "a place to slow down, enjoy the mountain and river scenery, and get a taste of small-town American life."
McKelvey, asked if he is registered with a party, pointed to his shirt promoting the Irish Republican Army.
Despite being a Republican and voting strictly party line in presidential elections, McKelvey said he does not plan to vote for Oz: "He might be a Republican but he's crooked. He's bad. He's a Democrat. He's not the right fit."
Instead, he will vote for the Democratic candidate, lieutenant governor John Fetterman, who he said "has issues, but is the lesser of two evils." He said he trusts Fetterman will not make inflation or the border crisis any worse and that he's a "decent guy."
McKelvey pointed to Oz's "scams he pulled with the fake pills" on his television show as a point of concern.
That Oz is a phony is a common refrain among voters across the political spectrum who spoke to National Review.
Down the street at an American Legion post where indoor smoking is still permitted, Russ Clouser said Pennsylvania voters don't have a strong candidate to choose from this year.
Clouser, a longtime independent who recently changed his party affiliation to Republican to be able to vote in primary elections, said of Oz and Fetterman: "I think they're both fake. I truly believe they're very fake and they'll tell the public anything to get elected."
"If there's an independent I'll vote for him or I'll write someone in because I don't really like our choices," he said.
Roberta Spease, 57, a registered Republican and hairdresser, said she has no idea who she will vote for in November but, “I know it’s not going to be Oz. I just think he’s a quack,” adding that she thinks he is an “actor or not really a real doctor.” Oz is a cardiothoracic surgeon.
Tracey Allander, 60, who was having her hair done by Spease while she spoke to National Review, agreed with Spease and said she may very well sit out this election because she doesn’t like any of the candidates.
She said she has been put off by attack ads run by a top Democratic super PAC, Senate Majority PAC, that claim Oz killed over 300 dogs while he was principal investigator at the Columbia University Institute of Comparative Medicine. Oz’s campaign has denied the claims, saying he was not present in the operating room during or after operations on the animals and that he was not made aware of the abuse until the cases were finished.
Campaign ads on both sides appear to have stuck in the minds of voters, with many repeating attack ad talking points while giving their rationale for voting against a candidate. For Fetterman: that he lived off of his parents until well into his 40s and that he wants to release criminals from jail. For Oz: that he supports abortion bans with no exceptions for rape or incest and that he is not actually a Pennsylvania resident. However, Oz said last month that there should not be criminal penalties for doctors or women when it comes to abortion and his campaign said that he “supports exceptions for rape, incest and life of the mother.”
Back at the American Legion, Emmett Kyler tells National Review that he's voting for Oz only because he feels that he must vote Republican because the Democratic Party is the "No. 1 terrorist group in the United States." Kyler believes the 2020 election was stolen from former president Donald Trump.
He said he doesn't like the “no-exceptions” abortion position that attack ads claim Oz holds.
"I just don't like politicians. He's a Republican, I have to," Kyler said.
Sara Holand, 52, a registered Republican, echoed Kyler's concerns. She said she is voting for Oz, but is upset with Republicans for not allowing rape victims to get abortions. She said she likes Oz, however, because he is "true and down to Earth."
Registered Republican Kathy Lauch also said she plans to vote for Oz and cited crime as her top concern. National Review’s discussion with Lauch was cut short when a man she was with began ranting that January 6 was not an insurrection and that 7 million Americans will eventually rise up and kill Democrats.
Biden won Pennsylvania by 80,555 votes in 2020, just four years after Trump won the state by 44,292 votes against Hillary Clinton. Biden was bolstered by a huge show of support in the state’s suburban areas, while Trump was more successful in the state’s more rural parts.
A RealClearPolitics polling average has Fetterman leading Oz by 2.2 percentage points. A new Rasmussen Reports poll found that 45 percent of Pennsylvania likely voters would vote for Fetterman, 43 percent would vote for Oz, 6 percent said they’d vote for another candidate, while another 6 percent are undecided.
All eyes are on the swing state, where the retirement of GOP Senator Pat Toomey has opened a door for Democrats to pick up a seat as they work to maintain control of Congress.
Eighty-eight percent of Pennsylvania voters identified inflation as an important issue in the midterms, including 66 percent who said the issue will be “very important.” Among those who plan to vote Republican in the congressional midterms, 94 percent said inflation is a very important issue, while just 40 percent of Pennsylvania voters who plan to vote for Democrats said the same.
Camp Hill, a Harrisburg suburb of some 8,000 people, has increasingly shifted from red to blue in recent years. Cumberland County, where Camp Hill is located, was once reliably red but has grown increasingly purple in recent years. How the suburb votes in the midterm elections could offer insight into whether the suburban leftward shift is here to stay.
Every small-business owner who spoke with National Review in the upper middle class suburb cited “women’s rights” or abortion as the most important issue to them.
Albert Pera, 78, is the owner of Cornerstone Coffeehouse on Camp Hill’s main drag.
Pera, who is a registered Democrat but said he is a “bit more of an independent,” said abortion is his top concern this election.
“I think women should have the right to choose what happens to their bodies,” he said. “I don't think that should be legislated by men. If it was the reverse and men got pregnant, they wouldn't be an issue. That's very very important to me and my wife.”
He said Oz and the Republican gubernatorial candidate, Doug Mastriano, “scare” him and called Oz “phony.”
“I think a lot more than just one person getting elected is at stake in this election,” he said. “This election is going to see whether we remain a democracy or not between this one and the next presidential election.”
"Well we're in a Republican area but Camp Hill has become more Democratic and I like that." He hears a lot of differing opinions from patrons and says sometimes he has to walk away and says he tries to remain apolitical.
A patron who overheard Pera’s comments told him: “I always liked you guys, I like you even more now.”
Mark Vickrey, 62, the owner of a retail flower shop that has been in business 25 years also said abortion and women’s rights are his top concern. He is a registered Republican but identifies more as an independent and tends to vote Democrat: “I don’t typically vote Republican, I typically vote for the person who I believe will do the best job.”
He plans to vote for Fetterman because he’s “just a regular, down-to-Earth person.”
Lisa Decavalcante, 58, the owner of Little Black Dress clothing shop said the economy is “very important” to her but it is “women’s issues” that will drive her to the polls in November. She declined to say for whom she planned to vote.
“I just think everything is so extreme,” she said. “I don’t want to live in this extreme or that extreme. I want to live somewhere approaching a middle where everyone can come together.”
Carla Irvin, 46, runs her family’s retail business that was first established in 1977. Irvin plans to vote for Fetterman, who she said impressed her during the pandemic and “is an actual resident of Pennsylvania.” She said women’s rights are most important to her and suggested inflation is “well beyond what is under the purview of our lawmakers,” calling it an international issue and saying she does not blame Democrats for the 40-year high inflation plaguing the country.
All of the voters who planned to vote for Fetterman told National Review his lingering health issues from a stroke he suffered in May are not a cause of concern for them. Fetterman has said he has faced difficulties with auditory processing as he recovers.
During the first and likely only debate between Fetterman and Oz on Tuesday evening, real-time captions will transcribe everything the moderators and Oz say to assist the Democrat with his auditory-processing challenges.
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