IS about the stroke. At least to a large extent.
Look, I have as much sympathy for stroke victims as anyone. But the plain truth is that he is simply not able to do the job. And it is NOT only the stroke…
Look, I have MS. I can’t walk. HINT: Don’t choose me to be on your basketball team! I’m not offended, it is just the truth.
And the truth is that an unfortunate brain injury renders Fetterman a BAD choice for the Senate–not to mention his horrible politics.
But they’re not offended. Fetterman’s just not up to it. And his campaign appears to have made a strategic decision not to pretend otherwise, for now.
… I suspect his reluctance to debate *isn’t* fundamentally about his health issues. I believe his campaign when they say he’s having issues with “chaotic auditory environments” but the foremost reason a candidate in his position shouldn’t want to debate isn’t because of his hearing. It’s because he’s in the lead, has turned the campaign into a referendum on Oz’s authenticity, and shouldn’t want to mess with that by putting himself in highly visible situations where his ideological radicalism might be exposed. For the moment, he’s just the chill dude in the hoodie who happened to have had a stroke. He can get elected as that guy. But can he get elected as Bernie 2.0? That’s the risk of a debate.
You could have a debate with no audience–with just Oz, Fetterman, and a moderator sitting around a table. I hope Oz suggest that post-haste!
But see, THAT reveals that Fetterman is an oaf. So he won’t do it.