Campaign Trail: Fetterman and Oz battling as campaign enters final days

Oct. 18—WILKES-BARRE — The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) this week is launching a new digital advertising campaign to remind Pennsylvanians who are voting by mail to use their secrecy envelope so that their ballot is not deemed "naked" and disqualified.

The ads are part of Democrats' 'Don't Be Caught Naked' voter education campaign about the steps to vote by mail, which has included events in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

The ad campaign will be backed by six figures and will reach likely voters in Pennsylvania across a variety of platforms including Facebook, Instagram, Connected TV and Snapchat. The ads direct voters to — IWillVote.com/PA.

Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee spokesperson Patrick Burgwinkle said, "Pennsylvania is home to one of the most consequential Senate races in the country this year and every vote will matter, which is why the DSCC is making sure Pennsylvanians have a plan to vote and that they use the secrecy envelope to ensure their ballot is counted."

NRSC: Fetterman tries to walk

away from his anti-fracking record

The National Republican Senate Committee this week said Democrat John Fetterman has had a long record of being anti-fracking.

According to the NRSC:

"In 2016, Fetterman wrote: "I'm not pro-fracking and have stated that if we did things right in this state, we wouldn't have fracking. The industry is a stain on our state and natural resources."

In 2016, Fetterman also supported a moratorium on fracking in Pennsylvania.

In 2018, Fetterman said he wants fracking to "transition out."

Fetterman supports the Green New Deal, which would authorize a transition away from fracking.

But he's now realizing that his anti-fracking agenda would devastate hard-working Pennsylvania families who rely on fracking to pay their bills, which provides 50,000 jobs in PA. So, he's walking it back, or trying to at least.

On Tuesday, he told NBC News that he supports fracking. Really?! That's not what his actions show."

Oz campaign: Fetterman inflation, gas

prices erode Pennsylvanians' paychecks

The Dr. Mehmet Oz campaign this week said the consumer price index continued to increase last month with prices on everyday goods rising 8.2% since last year, faster than economists expected.

At the same time, the campaign said gas prices continued to rise in Pennsylvania, even as the national average has leveled out.

Brittany Yanick, Communications Director for Dr. Oz for Senate, said:

"The extremist polices supported by John Fetterman continue to dismantle the foundation of our economy. Inflation is still at a 40-year high and all Feckless Fetterman want to do is spend more on radical schemes that are eroding Pennsylvanians' paychecks and forcing many Americans to rely on savings and credit cards to keep up with this record inflation.

"-+We need to elect bold leaders like Dr. Oz for U.S. Senate who knows how to reach broad bipartisan consensus on cutting inflation and restoring fiscal responsibility in Washington."

Fetterman says Oz position

on abortion 'not clear at all'

The John Fetterman for Senate campaign this week said Dr. Oz finally did an interview with the media, and he continues to avoid a yes or no answer on whether he would vote for Sen. Lindsey Graham's abortion ban.

From the Fetterman campaign:

"Dr. Oz. was asked directly if he would vote against Lindsay Graham's bill to ban abortion after fifteen weeks.

"Oz responded, 'I'm going to be very hesitant to having the federal government do anything around abortion.'

"In response, WGAL's Barbara Barr asked, 'Not ready to say outright that you would vote against it?'

"Oz: "I think my position is pretty clear. I don't think the federal government should be involved in the decisions that states should be making."

The Fetterman campaign said: "News flash: Oz's position is not clear at all."

More from the Fetterman campaign:

"For weeks now, the Fetterman campaign has been tracking Oz's dodging on the GOP's national abortion ban at the website Oz Watch. Time and time again, Oz and his team have refused to give a direct answer on how he would vote.

Pennsylvania Lt. Governor John Fetterman released the following statement about Oz's continued refusal to answer this very basic question:

"Dr. Oz can't seem to get two words out: yes or no. It's been an entire month since the GOP's national abortion ban was introduced in the Senate, and Dr. Oz still hasn't said how he'd vote.

"This is a man who said all abortions are 'murder.' His silence on the GOP's national abortion ban makes clear that he would gladly vote for this national abortion ban.

"Answering this question is so hard for him because he knows Pennsylvania won't stand for his extremism. He'd vote to ban abortion nationwide if he got the chance. His views on this issue are way out of step for Pennsylvania, but that's why he's hiding."

Fetterman slams Oz-GOP agenda

to extend tax breaks for wealthy

The John Fetterman campaign cited a report in the Washington Post said if the GOP wins House and Senate majorities in November, Republican leadership is prepared to push to make the 2017 Trump tax breaks for the wealthy permanent and to give new tax breaks to corporations.

According to economists, the move would also increase inflation.

From the Fetterman campaign:

"Dr. Oz would be an automatic vote for this disastrous GOP agenda to cut taxes for the wealthy and corporations while making inflation worse. He already owes favors to Mitch McConnell and the Republican leadership pushing these cuts for flooding his failing campaign with tens of millions of dollars. Earlier this month, Oz even spoke at a fundraiser with NRSC Chair Rick Scott, the architect of the GOP Plan to raise taxes on working people and destroy Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid."

Fetterman released the following statement in response:

"First Dr. Oz made a fortune by scamming working people. Now he wants to cut taxes for wealthy people like himself — and make inflation worse for everybody else."

Oz holds Safer Streets Community

Discussion on heroin injection sites

Dr. Mehmet Oz held a Safer Streets Community Discussion this week amid John Fetterman's "radical efforts to open heroin injection sites and decriminalize hard drugs like heroin and fentanyl."

Dr. Oz stated:

"It is critical that we come together for discussions like this because there are radical efforts by my opponent, John Fetterman, to decriminalize heroin and put heroin injection sites in neighborhoods. We have to find alternatives to making our streets safer by reducing drug overdose deaths and getting tougher on criminals who terrorize our communities with violence and the peddling of dangerous poisons to our youth. In the U.S. Senate, I will never stop listening to you and your communities, and I promise to fight for safer streets and more opportunities to live successfully and prosper."

Oz says Fetterman's 'radical border &

drug policies spell disaster for Pa.

The Dr. Oz campaign this week said a new report shows that John Fetterman's radical open-border and drug policies are emboldening criminal enterprises. The campaign said The New York Times reported that Homeland Security Investigations estimates that cartels make around $13 billion a year, up 2,500 percent from $500 million in 2018.

Brittany Yanick, Communications Director for Doctor Oz for Senate said:

"Radical John Fetterman's soft-on-crime, soft-on-drugs, soft-on-cartels policies are devastating our communities. We have seen a record amount of smuggling, drugs, and crime in Pennsylvania. John Fetterman should look around and see what his disastrous policies are doing to our communities already, let alone what will happen if he succeeds in decriminalizing heroin and fentanyl in PA. We need a leader who will crack down on cartels and criminals, not enable them. Dr. Oz will support policies to secure our borders and stop the flow of drugs into the hands of Pennsylvanians."

"Most alarming is John Fetterman's radical plan to decriminalize all drugs, like heroin and fentanyl, which will result in more deaths and further embolden the drug trade."

The Oz campaign said the Pennsylvania State Police recently announced that they seized over 2,000 pounds of illegal drugs in the third quarter of 2022. In three months, Pennsylvania seized more fentanyl than they did the whole year of 2020. For the third quarter of this year, the amount seized ($1,368,640) was more than 6.5 times the third quarter of 2020 ($205,920).

Reach Bill O'Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.