Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., campaigned for Senate last year instead of recovering from his stroke.
After arriving at the Senate, he missed almost two months of work due to hospitalization for post-stroke depression, and he’s earned comparisons to California Democrat Dianne Feinstein, a senator known for her debilitating health issues.
Now, Fetterman is paying the price at the polls.
Between June 22 and 26, pollsters at Quinnipiac University conducted phone interviews with 1,584 people describing themselves as registered voters in Pennsylvania… and the pollsters found some bad news for Fetterman.
A whopping 50 percent of Pennsylvania voters disapproved of Fetterman’s performance. Only 39 percent approved of their junior senator, and 10 percent expressed no opinion.
Fetterman is polling at the same level as another Pennsylvania native: President Joe Biden.
Only 39 percent of voters approved of Scranton Joe’s job performance, with a whopping 57 percent expressing disapproval.
In a hypothetical election held today, Pennsylvania would break 47-46 in a hypothetical contest between Biden and former President Donald Trump. That’s a toss-up within the poll’s 2.5-percent margin of error.
It’s not as if the Keystone State has suddenly taken a right turn. Bob Casey, the state’s other Senate Democrat, remains popular. Casey is sitting at 44 percent approval, with only 32 percent disapproval.
In other words, Casey is pulling a net approval rating of +12 points. That’s 23 points ahead of Fetterman.
Plus, Democrat Gov. Josh Shapiro remains more popular than either senator. He’s sitting at 57 percent approval and only 23 percent disapproval. Governors usually poll better than senators.
Fetterman won’t face re-election until 2028. So, he has time to rehabilitate his reputation.
On the other hand, Biden is already campaigning ahead of next year’s presidential election. He doesn’t have that kind of time.
Flashback! ‘Scranton Joe’ rejected by his own hometown
The Horn editorial