The political scene is increasingly chaotic, and strange as it seems Sen. John Fetterman is an island of sanity, even for conservatives. Here’s my new column from RealClearPolitics.
The question is rhetorical, but not entirely unrealistic. It also has nothing to do with Fetterman’s recent hospitalization for a minor heart issue, but rather with his appeal across the aisle.
You remember Reagan Democrats, don’t you? They were the working-class Democrats who saw something decent and hopeful in Ronald Reagan’s message and crossed party lines to vote for him – maybe the first Republican they had ever voted for.
Something similar could be going on now, except in the opposite direction, as Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania puts distance between himself and the progressive elements of the Democrat Party and begins to sound decent and hopeful just like Reagan.
The latest example was when Fetterman urged his fellow Democrats to stop the government shutdown they had caused:
As a committed Democrat, it’s always been wrong for us to shut the government down. Rightly, they criticize the Republicans when they’ve shut the government down all the time. It’s wrong. It’s reckless. … I absolutely support extending those [Affordable Care Act] tax credits. But for me, the kinds of chaos and holding our government hostage is unacceptable. And you can have priorities, but it’s wrong to go shutting our government down, and that’s where we’re at.
So am I a Fetterman Republican? Maybe not. Not entirely anyway. I certainly don’t support extending the COVID-era ACA tax credits, but I understand why the Pennsylvania Democrat’s star is rising. He is one of the few U.S. senators of either party who seems to follow his conscience instead of party bosses, and he speaks with simple straightforward authenticity that is sadly lacking among almost all elected officials.
He also has a sense of humor. Remember when Reagan quipped “Honey, I forgot to duck,” after being shot in 1981? When Fetterman fell last week and was hospitalized, he joked, “If you thought my face looked bad before, wait until you see it now!”
Those same qualities – humor, authenticity, independence – helped get Donald Trump elected president twice, and though Fetterman may not decide to put himself through the rigors of a presidential campaign, it would sure be interesting to see him on a debate stage challenging Gavin Newsom, Gretchen Whitmer, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to stop telling Americans what they need and start listening to find out what they want.
On quite a few issues, Fetterman has planted himself firmly on the side of reason and tradition. He supports Israel’s right to defend itself 100 percent, and reminds his radical colleagues that Hamas started the Gaza war and has only itself to blame for the deadly outcome. Likewise Fetterman enthusiastically supported President Trump’s decision to decimate Iran’s nuclear capability with a bombing sortie that left no doubt that Trump would follow up his words with actions. In both cases, Fetterman angered his fellow Democrats and won new supporters among Republicans.
On other issues, he has staked out a position as a sensible reformer. Originally against fracking, for instance, he has moderated his position to acknowledge the importance of fracking for keeping energy prices low, but insists on environmental protections being in place. Perfect position for an independent.
But there are other areas where Fetterman is not going to win the backing of some voters. For instance, he supports allowing biological men in women’s sports and locker rooms, a position that he would have to change before winning the votes of moderate Republicans and most independents.
Most of his positions, however, fall on the same side as the majority of Americans. His support for abortion rights may rankle many Republican politicians, but polling shows that most people agree with him that abortion is a choice “between a woman, her doctor and a God if she prays to one.”
The funny thing is that Fetterman not too long ago was just one more radical progressive Democrat. When he ran for Senate in 2016, he drew comparisons to Bernie Sanders, whom he endorsed in the presidential race that year. According to The Guardian:
Fetterman … was gaining a reputation as an outspoken progressive in the Sanders mold. He held similar positions to the democratic socialist Vermont senator: on the campaign trail Fetterman spoke often about income inequality and legalizing marijuana. He supported universal healthcare – a litmus test for progressives. In those days, as Fetterman attracted a growing number of fans among the left wing of the Democratic party, he was also a fierce Trump critic.
So what happened? What happened to Fetterman that made the left-leaning Guardian describe him in that same article as a “Trump-adjacent senator”?
We can only speculate, but a good place to start is with Fetterman’s own words. When he talked to political commentator Bill Maher in June 2024, he acknowledged that the stroke he suffered during the 2022 campaign for Senate had given him a different perspective.
There’s a line from the first “Batman.” Joker, he’s like “I’ve … been dead once already. It’s very liberating.” That’s not reckless, that’s just freeing. It’s just freeing in a way. And I just think after beating all of that, I just really want to be able to say the things that I have to really believe in and not be afraid of if there’s any kind of blowback.
Whether he had a spiritual awakening from what was essentially a near-death experience, we may never know, but there is no doubt that he awakened something in the body politic with his transformation.
Plenty of people, including me, thought Fetterman wasn’t qualified to be a senator following his stroke. We were wrong. His occasional speech impediment and his peculiar wardrobe (shorts and a hoodie) may be off-putting, but his honesty and search for middle ground more than make up for it.
Maybe no one’s calling themselves a Fetterman Republican yet, but as the rest of the politicians beclown themselves over the next year, I suspect they will.
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Heartland Diary is solely operated by Frank Miele, the retired editor of the Daily Inter Lake in Kalispell, Montana. If you enjoy reading these daily essays, I hope you will SUBSCRIBE to www.HeartlandDiaryUSA.com by leaving your email address on the home page. Also please consider purchasing one of my books. They are available through the following Amazon links. My new book is “What Matters Most: God, Country, Family and Friends” and is a collection of personal essays that transcend politics. My earlier books include “How We Got Here: The Left’s Assault on the Constitution,” “The Media Matrix: What if everything you know is fake?” and the “Why We Needed Trump” trilogy. Part 1 is subtitled “Bush’s Global Failure: Half Right.” Part 2 is “Obama’s Fundamental Transformation: Far Left.” Part 3 is “Trump’s American Vision: Just Right.” As an Amazon Associate, I may earn referral fees for qualifying purchases through links on my website.
